River Raisin Legacy Project

The City of Monroe, Michigan, Commission on the Environment and Water Quality's (COTE) mini documentary film, details the extensive remediation cleanup work, habitat restoration and recreational enhancements that have taken place in the River Raisin over the past two decades.

Filmed over the course of 2018, the eleven-minute video documents the recent work on the River Raisin to delist it as an Area of Concern (AOC), which includes removal of dams, installation of fish passages, and re-invigoration of the natural environment.

The film features interviews with Jon Allan, Director of the Michigan Office of the Great Lakes (OGL), Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ); Mark Tuchman, Environmental Scientist with the United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA); Scott Cieniawski, Section Chief US EPA, Great Lakes National Program Office; Michelle Selzer, Lake Erie Coordinator, MOGL; as well as local citizens Dan Stefanski and Richard Micka – longtime champions of the River Raisin come-back, members of the River Raisin Public Advisory Council and COTE.

Made possible by funding through the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative administered by the Michigan Areas of Concern Program, Office of the Great Lakes, Department of Environmental Quality, Michigan Department of Natural Resources, and the Environmental Protection Agency. Through past grants, the COTE/City of Monroe and its partners have removed dams and created passages permitting fish to migrate, for the first time in over 80 years, a twenty-three mile stretch of the River.

The documentary showcases the relentless efforts of volunteers, staff and key stakeholders to restore the ecology and natural beauty, as well as the cultural and recreational value of this regional asset including fishing, kayaking, wildlife viewing and more. It is the hope of COTE that the film can serve as a model and inspiration to other AOCs and citizens, as well as local and regional stakeholders.

  • Bradley M. Egen
    Director
  • Bradley M. Egen and Brian James Egen
    Writer
  • Brian James Egen
    Producer
    An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge
  • Melanie Foose - AOC Coordinator – Detroit River, St. Clair River, River Raisin Water Resources Division Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy • Jon Allan - Director of the Michigan Office of the Great Lakes (OGL), Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) 2012 - 2019. • Mark Tuchman - Environmental Scientist with the United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA. • Scott Cieniawski, Section Chief US EPA, Great Lakes National Program Office. • Dan Stefanski - Monroe County Drain Commissioner (retired), Commission on the Environment & Water Quality, River Raisin Public Advisory Council. • Michelle Selzer, Lake Erie Coordinator, (MOGL). • Richard Micka - Commission on the Environment & Water Quality, River Raisin Public Advisory Council
    Key Cast
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Runtime:
    11 minutes 31 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    May 1, 2019
  • Production Budget:
    25 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No

  • United States
Distribution Information
  • NA
Director Biography - Bradley M. Egen

Brothers Bradley M. Egen and Brian James Egen directed and produced River Raisin Legacy Project.

Director: BRADLEY M. EGEN is an award-winning actor, director, producer and writer with over twenty years of experience in the film & video industry. As founder of MotionPossible (FigureGround Productions, Inc.) and lifelong enthusiast of American History, Bradley and company have produced dozens of historical films for The Henry Ford, USC Shoah Foundation and other clients around the country. He served as the Director’s Assistant, Associate Producer and Principal Actor in “Antietam: A Documentary Drama Narrated by James Earl Jones” and a number of historic films produced in collaboration with the National Parks Service.

As a co-producer and lead actor in the nationally distributed anthology, “Ambrose Bierce: Civil War Stories” Bradley portrayed “Peyton Farquhar” in the “Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” segment (CINE Golden Eagle Award-winner).

With an alacrity for historic and environmental preservation subject matter, Bradley graduated Magna Cum Laude from Western Michigan University in 1995, was awarded a full Graduate College Fellowship and earned his Master of Arts Degree in Organizational Communications in 1997. Bradley can be reached at: b@motionpossible.com and his filmography is available on the Internet Movie Data Base at: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0250817/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1

Producer: BRIAN JAMES EGEN is an award-winning film director and producer, Civil War historian and lifelong student of history. He has been employed at the Henry Ford, in Dearborn, Michigan for the past 27 years. He currently serves as Executive Producer, overseeing the film department and is a coordinator for the CBS television’s award-winning The Henry Ford’s Innovation Nation. In his first 22 years at The Henry Ford, Brian was involved in the agriculture and equine operations, historic base ball program, Model T experience, the Great Outdoors program, and many of the signature special program offerings such as Civil War Remembrance, Hallowe’en in Greenfield Village and Holiday Nights.

Gubernatorially appointed to the Michigan Historical Commission in 2012, Brian currently serves as President and was Chair of the Michigan Civil War Sesquicentennial Committee. He also serves as Chair of the Monroe County Historical Commission, the River Raisin Heritage Corridor and the City of Monroe’s Commission on the Environment & Water Quality. In 2019 he became chair of the River Raisin Heritage Corridor Commission through the City of Monroe, Michigan.

In 2015, Brian co-authored 'Michigan at Antietam: The Wolverine State’s Sacrifice on America’s Bloodiest Day' that chronical Michigan’s role during the Maryland Campaign of 1862. Michigan does not have a monument on the Antietam Battlefield, but Brian is currently leading an effort to change that with fundraising efforts that include all book proceeds going toward the project.

Brian’s dual interest in history and filmmaking has given him experience serving on many historical documentaries for the NPS, History Channel and other outlets. Chief among them was serving as assistant director and historical consultant for “Antietam: A Documentary Film” for the U.S. Department of the Interior on the Battle of Antietam.

Born in Monroe, Michigan, he lives there in a historic home with his “loves of life” wife, Jody, and daughter, Scarlett.

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