The National Parks: America's Best Idea (HD)

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[edit] General Information

Nature Documentary hosted by Ken Burns and Peter Coyote, published by PBS in 2009 - English narration

[edit] Cover

[edit] Information

THE NATIONAL PARKS, a film by Ken Burns, is the story of an idea as uniquely American as the Declaration of Independence: that the most special places in the nation should be preserved for everyone. The series traces the birth of the national park idea in the mid-1800s and follows its evolution for nearly 150 years, chronicling the addition of new parks through the stories of the people who helped create them.

[edit] "The Scripture of Nature" (1851–1890)

Shows the beauty of Yosemite Valley and the geyser wonderland of Yellowstone. Additionally, it offers a lengthy discussion of how Yosemite and Yellowstone National Parks were created and shows how John Muir became their eloquent defender.

[edit] "The Last Refuge" (1890–1915)

Theodore Roosevelt uses the presidential powers of the Antiquities Act to add National Monuments, including Devils Tower, Mesa Verde, Petrified Forest, Muir Woods, Crater Lake and the Grand Canyon. Hetch Hetchy Valley is lost through damming. Roosevelt's speech at the dedication of Yellowstone's Roosevelt Arch states the ultimate purpose of the National Parks: For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People.

[edit] "The Empire of Grandeur" (1915–1919)

Covers the creation of the National Park Service and the influence of its early leaders Stephen Mather and Horace M. Albright, and wealthy industrialists who Mather persuaded to help him champion the park system.

[edit] "Going Home" (1920–1933)

Focuses on the time when America embraced the automobile, setting off an explosion in the number of park visits. Also, the Rockefellers quietly buy up land in the Teton Mountain Range.

[edit] "Great Nature" (1933–1945)

Emphasizes the societal impacts of the park concept, including new environmental and naturalistic perspectives, employment opportunities and application of the park idea to additional geographical locations.

[edit] "The Morning of Creation" (1946–1980)

Offers details about the ecological damage caused by 62 million visitors each year and the controversial decision to protect wolves in Alaska which had been hunted to extinction in all other parks.