Our National Parks: America’s Best Idea
Filmmaker Ken Burns’ most recent PBS documentary, The National Parks: America’s Best Idea, is a stunning and utterly engrossing tribute not only to our country’s many awe-inspiring natural landscapes, but also to our nation’s fundamental democratic principles. Burns interviews scores of ordinary people, from park rangers and activists to journalists and historians, as they trace the origins of our greatest collectively-owned resources, and share their unique personal experiences in the vast beauty of our national parks.
“When we look at the parks and we look at the United States and we examine the whole idea of democracy, I think that the park experience is an exploration of the idea of freedom.”
-Shelton Johnson, Park Ranger
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Our National Parks Are a Symbol of Democracy
The six episode series celebrates many varied pristine locales, from Alaska to the Everglades, as well as national historic sites like Manzanar, where Japanese-American citizens were imprisoned. The documentary chronicles the fascinating history and untold stories of our national parks, as well as the many heroes who helped them come into existence.
Through the creation of our National Park Service, both wilderness and history have been preserved to remind us where, as a nation, we have come from, as well as what we are capable of becoming. The National Parks: America’s Best Idea premieres on PBS this Sunday, September 27th at 8pm; check here for local schedule listings.
It is inconceivable to imagine what our country would look like without our national parks.
“The National Parks: America’s Best Idea is the story of an idea as uniquely American as the Declaration of Independence and just as radical: that the most special places in the nation should be preserved, not for royalty or the rich, but for everyone.”
