Harker Lake is a shallow glacial lake

Glacial lake

A glacial lake is a lake with origins in a melted glacier. Near the end of the last glacial period, roughly 10,000 years ago, glaciers began to retreat. A retreating glacier often left behind large deposits of ice in hollows between drumlins or hills. As the ice age ended, these melted to create...

 located in Kidder County

Kidder County, North Dakota

-National protected areas:*Hutchinson Lake National Wildlife Refuge*Lake George National Wildlife Refuge*Long Lake National Wildlife Refuge *Slade National Wildlife Refuge-Demographics:...

, North Dakota

North Dakota

North Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States of America, along the Canadian border. The state is bordered by Canada to the north, Minnesota to the east, South Dakota to the south and Montana to the west. North Dakota is the 19th-largest state by area in the U.S....

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. It is 5 km (3.1 mi) south-southeast of the town of Dawson, North Dakota

Dawson, North Dakota

As of the census of 2000, there were 75 people, 38 households, and 16 families residing in the city. The population density was 186.9 people per square mile . There were 52 housing units at an average density of 129.6 per square mile...

, and 80.5 km (50 mi) east of the state capital, Bismarck

Bismarck, North Dakota

Bismarck is the capital of the U.S. state of North Dakota and the county seat of Burleigh County. It is the second most populous city in North Dakota after Fargo. The city's population was 61,272 at the 2010 census, while its metropolitan population was 108,779...

. The lake is entirely surrounded by the wetland

Wetland

A wetland is an area of land whose soil is saturated with water either permanently or seasonally. Wetlands are categorised by their characteristic vegetation, which is adapted to these unique soil conditions....

s and marsh

Marsh

In geography, a marsh, or morass, is a type of wetland that is subject to frequent or continuous flood. Typically the water is shallow and features grasses, rushes, reeds, typhas, sedges, other herbaceous plants, and moss....

es of the Slade National Wildlife Refuge

Slade National Wildlife Refuge

Slade National Wildlife Refuge is a National Wildlife Refuge in Kidder County, North Dakota. It is managed under Long Lake National Wildlife Refuge.-References:*...

, and public access is limited.It is very marshy.

History

Historically, the marshes and wetlands south of the town of Dawson, North Dakota support a large quantity of migratory waterfowl

Waterfowl

Waterfowl are certain wildfowl of the order Anseriformes, especially members of the family Anatidae, which includes ducks, geese, and swans....

, which have attracted hunters. George Theron Slade, Third Vice President of the Northern Pacific Railroad, enjoyed hunting game birds in the area. In 1924, he began purchasing land around Harker Lake for the use of a private shooting club. Slade invested a considerable sum into improving the land with the aim of making it more attractive for waterfowl. Improvements included planting and harvesting a limited amount of organically-grown

Organic farming

Organic farming is the form of agriculture that relies on techniques such as crop rotation, green manure, compost and biological pest control to maintain soil productivity and control pests on a farm...

 grain

Cereal

Cereals are grasses cultivated for the edible components of their grain , composed of the endosperm, germ, and bran...

 to provide bird feed, and a well

Water well

A water well is an excavation or structure created in the ground by digging, driving, boring or drilling to access groundwater in underground aquifers. The well water is drawn by an electric submersible pump, a trash pump, a vertical turbine pump, a handpump or a mechanical pump...

 capable of pumping 60,500 liters (16,000 gallons) of water per hour to keep the lake level from falling during drought

Drought

A drought is an extended period of months or years when a region notes a deficiency in its water supply. Generally, this occurs when a region receives consistently below average precipitation. It can have a substantial impact on the ecosystem and agriculture of the affected region...

. In 1940, Slade donated the land to the United States Fish and Wildlife Service

United States Fish and Wildlife Service

The United States Fish and Wildlife Service is a federal government agency within the United States Department of the Interior dedicated to the management of fish, wildlife, and natural habitats...

, which used the land to establish the Slade National Wildlife Refuge.

Wildlife

Harker Lake is used by waterfowl approximately nine months out of the year. The most common species to be found include Canada Geese

Canada Goose

The Canada Goose is a wild goose belonging to the genus Branta, which is native to arctic and temperate regions of North America, having a black head and neck, white patches on the face, and a brownish-gray body....

, Mallard

Mallard

The Mallard , or Wild Duck , is a dabbling duck which breeds throughout the temperate and subtropical Americas, Europe, Asia, and North Africa, and has been introduced to New Zealand and Australia....

s, Snow Geese

Snow Goose

The Snow Goose , also known as the Blue Goose, is a North American species of goose. Its name derives from the typically white plumage. The genus of this bird is disputed...

, Ring-necked Pheasant

Common Pheasant

The Common Pheasant , is a bird in the pheasant family . It is native to Georgia and has been widely introduced elsewhere as a game bird. In parts of its range, namely in places where none of its relatives occur such as in Europe , it is simply known as the "pheasant"...

s, Sharp-tailed Grouse

Sharp-tailed Grouse

The Sharp-tailed Grouse, Tympanuchus phasianellus , is a medium-sized prairie grouse. It is also known as the sharptail, and is known as "fire grouse" or "fire bird" by Native American Indians due to their reliance on brush fires to keep their habitat open.-Taxonomy:The Greater Prairie-chicken,...

, and Hungarian Partridges. White-tailed Deer

White-tailed Deer

The white-tailed deer , also known as the Virginia deer or simply as the whitetail, is a medium-sized deer native to the United States , Canada, Mexico, Central America, and South America as far south as Peru...

 are common around the lake, and some coyote

Coyote

The coyote , also known as the American jackal or the prairie wolf, is a species of canine found throughout North and Central America, ranging from Panama in the south, north through Mexico, the United States and Canada...

s live in the area. A majority of the grasslands around the perimeter of the lake are introduced grass

Grass

Grasses, or more technically graminoids, are monocotyledonous, usually herbaceous plants with narrow leaves growing from the base. They include the "true grasses", of the Poaceae family, as well as the sedges and the rushes . The true grasses include cereals, bamboo and the grasses of lawns ...

es and legumes.