Sept. 6, 2012
TOWER - Department of Natural Resources officials are considering restricting the use of motors on Big Rice Lake from June 15 to Nov. 25 annually as part of an overall management plan revision.

The change, they say, could improve duck hunting on the very popular waterfowl and wild rice lake in northern Minnesota.
"Around the state people are fishing later and that's chasing ducks away. We're trying to improve duck hunting," said Dawn Plattner, assistant wildlife manager at the Tower Area DNR.

Right now, any changes are still in the proposal stage and the DNR is inviting citizens to attend a public meeting to discuss the proposed revisions to the Big Rice Lake management plan at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 3 at the Tower Area DNR Wildlife Office in northern St. Louis County.The original management plan is being revisited to assess effectiveness and determine if changes or updates need to be made. 

Big Rice Lake is located within the Superior National Forest approximately 10 miles northeast of Virginia.

According to the DNR, the lake is approximately 2,072 acres in size and was designated a Wildlife Management Lake in 1992. Big Rice Lake is a feeding and resting area for migrating waterfowl and is one of the most popular waterfowl hunting lakes in the area. 

According to DNR officials it is an important natural wild rice lake in St. Louis County and in years of good wild rice production the lake is traditionally used by mallards, wood ducks, blue winged teal, ring-necked ducks, and geese. 

The proposal to limit motorized use for part of the year is intended to protect breeding waterfowl and their broods, and to minimize disturbances to feeding and resting wildlife during fall migration.  The plan proposes that from June 15 until Nov. 25, motorized surface use will be restricted to watercraft with electric trolling motors only. 

Motorized access will be unrestricted during the rest of the year.

Other proposals include: Monitoring and removing beaver and beaver dams to maintain normal water levels and improve wild rice; and working to reduce the abundance of pickerelweed.

Big Rice Lake management plans are available at the Tower DNR Office and on the DNR website. Written comments on the management plan revision, including the proposed motor restriction, will be accepted until Saturday, Nov. 3. Comments may be submitted by e-mail to Tom Rusch, Area Wildlife Supervisor, at tom.rusch@state.mn.us or Dawn Plattner, Assistant Area Wildlife Supervisor, at dawn.plattner@state.mn.us.  Comments can also be mailed to the Tower DNR office at 650 Hwy 169, Tower, MN 55790.