Old Faithful erupting, Yellowstone National Park
The National Parks series by Ken Burns
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Fred Vigeant
The National Parks: America’s Best Idea is the six-part documentary series directed by Ken Burns and co-produced with his longtime colleague, Dayton Duncan.
The series tells 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. As such, it follows in the tradition of Burns’s exploration of other American inventions, such as baseball and jazz.
This is nonetheless a story of people: people from every conceivable background – rich and poor; famous and unknown; soldiers and scientists; natives and newcomers; idealists, artists and entrepreneurs; people who were willing to devote themselves to saving some precious portion of the land they loved, and in doing so reminded their fellow citizens of the full meaning of democracy.
The encore of this celebrated Ken Burns series begins Thursday June 11 at 9:30pm and continues Thursdays into July.