C.R. natives release Cedar River documentary

Nature enthusiasts can explore the Cedar River from their armchairs with a new 70-minute video produced by Cedar Rapids natives James Martin and Brian Emerson.

“Our River The Cedar” documents the 14-day, 300-mile canoe voyage Martin and Emerson made in September 2006 from Austin, Minn., to Columbus Junction, where the Cedar and Iowa rivers merge.

Their intimate look at the river enables viewers to enjoy the ambient sounds of nature and the paddlers' observations as the Cedar expands from its swift, rockbound headwaters to its wide, sandy confluence with the Iowa.

Now more than four years removed from the voyage, Martin, 35, of Cedar Rapids, said his lasting impression will be of living for two weeks at the 3 mph pace of the river.

“You don't often get a chance to slow down and really appreciate the fine details of nature,” he said.

Emerson, 35, of Madison, Wis., said he hopes the video will remove “the intimidation factor” that often keeps people from enjoying rivers.

“We want to encourage people to get on the water, to help them realize they can have fulfilling and meaningful recreation close to home,” Emerson said.

In their video, Martin and Emerson - both graduates of Washington High School and the University of Iowa - explain how they packed into a 17-foot aluminum canoe everything they needed for two weeks on the river, including tents, sleeping bags, food, clothing and electronic equipment.

The video documents the daily challenges of finding safe drinking water, camping in county parks and on river sandbars, eating rehydrated meals, enduring tent-rattling storms, lugging their canoe and its contents around one dam after another and paddling into headwinds that pushed them upstream whenever they paused.

Martin said the trip taught him that recreation need not be consumptive. “A three-hour drive and minimal expense allowed us to have a 14 day adventure,” he said.

Emerson said it heightened his awareness of the Cedar's “profound beauty,” as well as the harsh realities of degraded habitat and water quality.

The video has been submitted for consideration to the Iowa Independent Film Festival, The Hardacre Film Festival and the Landlocked Film Festival.

Copies can be ordered at $5 each to cover duplication and shipping by emailing watershedsunite@hotmail.com

For more information, consult www.watershedunite.org