In areas with dense vegetation, especially cattails or floating mats, vegetation removal may be required toprepare a site for wild rice seeding. FdLNR has used different pieces of equipment to effectively removevegetation for wild rice restoration. The “cookie cutter” or “sedge mat cutter” has blades on the front thatcan effectively chop up vegetation. The removed vegetation is dispersed behind the boat. The aquaticplant harvester has blades that cut the vegetation and roots and collects the removed material at the backof the boat using a conveyor system (Figure 10). Removed material can then be transported to acollection area and disposed of on land. Both pieces of equipment effectively remove the existingvegetation and a significant portion of the root system so that other vegetation such as wild rice has theopportunity to grow. Vegetation removal typically occurs in the late summer or early fall prior to seedingand is effective for three to five years before it needs to be repeated. Because there is the potential foradditional handling of the removed vegetation, this option is slightly more expensive; however, the longerlasting effect and the ability to address cattail stands may make up for the increased cost.