Patagonia Fly Fishing has released the third installment of its ongoing “It’s All Home Water” series, focusing on the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.
The freshwater, wilderness habitat and sustainable jobs provided by the BWCAW are priceless – but now in peril like never before. Aided by the Trump administration, a Chilean company is pushing for an irresponsible, dangerous and toxic sulfide-ore copper mine on the park’s boundary. In this collection of vignettes, Patagonia ambassador Nathaniel Riverhorse Nakadate and adventure filmmaker Tony Czech spent weeks in the Boundary Waters to give voice to a silent, pristine place.
The collection includes three features:
In the short film It’s All Home Water: A Northern Light, Nakadate paddles the BWCAW to document its serene and awe-inspiring beauty. The film is an astonishing portrait of a breathtaking wilderness. It is profound in how deeply and personally the landscape moves narrator Nakadate and chilling in the stark realization that this gift teeters on the brink of an environmental catastrophe.
In the essay It’s All Home Water: Paddling Past the Graveyard, Nakadate journals his canoe travels through the BWCA. His thoughts are personal and intimate, yet strike within us a shared relationship with the wonders of nature. “In what world,” he wonders, “would a mine belong here? Not today. Not in a hundred lifetimes. Not ever.”
In the photo essay It’s All Home Water: The Wonders of Wanderlust, Czech captures not only the Riverhorse’s journey but also the awe-inspiring majesty of the BWCAW in a series of remarkable photographs that underscore the irreplaceable and restorative powers of wilderness.
“In light of the what’s now happening in places like the Boundary Waters, Bristol Bay, the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge—and so many other places—the It’s All Home Water series is our way of standing up for wild fish and wild waters,” said Matt Millette, head of Patagonia’s Fly Fish marketing team. “With the daily assaults on our planet from the Trump administration, it’s our duty to stand for the waters we stand in and make sure there’s a wild, healthy future of fishing for generations to come. Showing these places—what they mean, how special and fragile they are—is our attempt to spur not only a deeper love for them but also to inspire continued activism and commitment to protect them.
About the creators:
Nathaniel Riverhorse Nakadate is a Patagonia fly fishing ambassador, adventurer, environmentalist and musician whose writing appears in many surfing, guitar and fly fishing magazines. He was recently the subject of The Flyfish Journal’s film Love & Water and has been a featured reader in the “Writers on the Fly” tours. He is often found on the fringes of a southern salt marsh with his cherished canoe, a journal and an eight-weight.
Minnesota native Tony Czech is a filmmaker who has dedicated his life to celebrating and protecting the beauty of the earth through creative artistry. Recent projects include a fly fishing film in the Arctic Circle, a kayak documentary filmed in the rebel territories of Central America, a 100+ mile trek into the backcountry of Patagonia, as well an assignment tracing the Marco Polo route along the Tajikistan and Afghan border. A storyteller who thrives on grit and authenticity, he is known for inspiring others to run beyond the boundaries of maps and expectations.
The Boundary Waters Wilderness Protection and Pollution Prevention Act addresses the urgent need to protect 234,328 acres in the Superior National Forest from copper-nickel mining development. Call on Congress to support this bill and protect the Boundary Waters for generations to come via Patagonia Action works here.
