Part of the Butcher Knife Waterfowl Habitat Restoration Project. Red Lake Indian Reservation. 2007. Photo Credit: Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians.

The Butcher Knife Stream and wetland complex cuts across the remote southwest corner of the Red Lake Indian Reservation in northwest Minnesota, and outlets into a channelized portion of the Clearwater River, which forms the southwest boundary of the Reservation.  The lower four to five miles of Butcher Knife Creek includes four shallow lakes 15 to 100 acres in size, which are referred to as the Butcher Knife Chain.  Historical accounts suggest that habitats associated with this drainage attracted large numbers of migrating and breeding waterfowl, due to abundant stands of wild rice and adjacent upland grassland nesting cover. 

Channelization of the Clearwater River in the 1960s, extensive beaver activity, and lack of fire and other natural disturbance have altered the hydrology of this portion of the drainage and allowed upland sites to become over-mature.  These factors reduced the capacity of the drainage to support natural stands of wild rice, as well as the overall utility and attractiveness of the site to waterfowl and other wildlife.

This project restored the natural hydrology in the lower reaches of the creek and associated wetlands, and restored local habitats in an effort to increase use by waterfowl.  Restoration efforts were undertaken in the stream channel along the lower 2.5 miles of the drainage, restoring a more natural water regime to approximately 200 acres of riverine-wetland habitat.   Natural strain wild rice was seeded into select sites, and 50 waterfowl nesting structures were built, placed and will be monitored.  Approximately 25 acres of upland were cleared and restored to an appropriate grassland mixture, and public access to select areas was improved.