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Ken Burns Talks About His National Parks Series

Posted by Muir on September 28, 2009

The National Parks: America’s Best Idea is a six-episode series directed by Ken Burns and written and co-produced by Dayton Duncan.  The series took more than six years to film at America’s most spectacular natural sites – from Acadia to Yosemite, Yellowstone to the Grand Canyon, the Everglades of Florida to the Gates of the Arctic in Alaska. 

The story is not just about a couple of white men, like John Muir and Theodore Roosevelt, who of course were instrumental in saving these pristine lands.  The series also chronicles important people from every conceivable background – rich and poor, famous and unknown, soldiers and scientists, natives and newcomers, idealists, artists and entrepreneurs.  These people 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.

Ken Burns talks with CNN about his new series:

Note the six episodes of “The National Parks: America’s Best Idea” are available to watch online one day after they air on PBS.  But don’t wait too long, as the episodes will only be available to watch online through October 9.

Ken Burns PBS Series to Highlight National Parks

Posted by Muir on May 6, 2009

Documentary filmmaker Ken Burns, acclaimed for his popular studies of World War II, the Civil War, baseball and jazz, hopes to rekindle public appreciation for our national parks and the people who fought to create them in his latest series, The National Parks: America’s Best Idea.

On Tuesday, Burns will visit the University of Miami’s Gusman Concert Hall to preview and discuss the six-part, 12-hour series, scheduled to air in September on PBS.  The special one-hour screening, already booked to capacity, will highlight the stories of South Florida’s parks: Everglades and Biscayne.

Burns said the series’ larger theme is the will of the people — quite often everyday people — to preserve the natural landscape and triumph over powerful desires to exploit it for profit.  “There is nothing more American than national parks,” Burns said.  “For the first time in human history, land was set aside for the people, not the kings or the nobles or the rich.”

Story at Miami Herald