Education - Traveling Display

SORA is developing a display on wild rice to increase awareness of this natural resource, identify where it can be found and promote understanding of the tradition of hand-harvest.  Contact SORA if you have an event or site that would benefit from this display.

Communication and Facilitation

SORA participates in discussions of management and regulation of wild rice between state and tribal agencies to provide a voice for harvesters and to keep communication flowing between resource users and those who provide management. If you are aware of upcoming discussions that concern wild rice and would like SORA to participate, send an email to adrewes@saveourrice.org. SORA also organizes an annual meeting to highlight changes in resource management, bring in current research and gather information from across the region.

Research

Currently we have no funding for research projects. However we attempt to connect those interested in doing research with potential research partners and information/resources. Below is a list of possible projects that have been suggested or discussed for future funding:

Wild Rice Processing Cooperative – A location/facility that provides both hands-on mentoring for those interested in learning how to process wild rice and small batch processing (< 100 lbs). Ideally this site would also be a place to educate others on wild rice and hand harvesting.

Historical Ripening Database – Place data (individual lakes) is extremely limited for wild rice, preventing our understanding of trends and patterns in wild rice ripening. Harvesters, particularly those who have been harvesting for 20 plus years often maintain detailed records of harvest dates and amounts for individual lakes. Access or use of these records to describe historical trends would add tremendously to our understanding of natural wild rice.

On-line Wild Rice Resource Database – A searchable data base for wild rice information and research.

*For more information or to discuss any of these projects, contact SORA at adrewes@saveourrice.org