By Katie Thoreson, WXPR – December 19, 2024
Strapping his canoe back into his truck bed, Brian Biermier remembers Spur Lake in the 70s when wild rice grew thick on the Oneida County lake.
“It was solid rice, shore to shore, you could not see the water,” said Biermier. “There was some opening day, there would be 80 to 100 boats out there. There was also two buyers here at the landing. They bought the rice right out of the boat. You could get 80 to 100 pounds in a day.”
Spur Lake hasn’t been like that in decades.
After a couple years of restoration work, this year saw wild rice plants growing once again, but sparsely and not yet harvestable.