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Episodes
- S1 E1 - The Scripture of Nature (1851-1890)September 26, 20091 h 53 minIn 1851, a band of Indian fighters in California encounters a place of astonishing beauty, setting in motion events that bring other newcomers to Yosemite Valley, including John Muir, who becomes a national voice for preservation.Free trial of PBS Documentaries or buy
- S1 E2 - The Last Refuge (1890-1915)September 27, 20092 h 11 minAmericans begin to question the nation’s rush across the continent that has devastated forests and ravaged animals. Conservation’s greatest champion is Theodore Roosevelt, who audaciously sets aside 800,000 acres of the Grand Canyon.Free trial of PBS Documentaries or buy
- S1 E3 - The Empire of Grandeur (1915-1919)September 28, 20091 h 50 minStephen Mather accepts the offer to oversee the national parks for one year. He launches a campaign to publicize the parks as a unified system and to persuade Congress to create a single agency to oversee it: the National Park Service.Free trial of PBS Documentaries or buy
- S1 E4 - Going Home (1920-1933)September 29, 20091 h 54 minMather and Albright ally themselves with the automobile to “democratize” the national parks. Horace Kephart and George Masa launch a campaign to save the forests of the Smoky Mountains from destruction by establishing a national park.Free trial of PBS Documentaries or buy
- S1 E5 - Great Nature (1933-1945)September 30, 20091 h 53 minFranklin D. Roosevelt enters battles to create national parks on the Olympic Peninsula, Florida’s Everglades, and California’s High Sierra. George Melendez Wright begins arguing that the parks are not doing enough to protect wildlife.Free trial of PBS Documentaries or buy
- S1 E6 - The Morning of Creation (1946-1980)October 1, 20091 h 53 minAfter World War II, an increasingly mobile nation visits the parks as never before. When Jimmy Carter sets aside 56 million acres in Alaska–the largest grassroots movement in conservation history fights for the creation of seven new parks.Free trial of PBS Documentaries or buy
Extras
Bonus
Filmmaker Ken Burns and his longtime colleague Dayton Duncan take us on a behind-the-scenes tour of their series THE NATIONAL PARKS: AMERICA'S BEST IDEA.
Filmmaker Ken Burns and his longtime colleague Dayton Duncan take us on a behind-the-scenes tour of their series THE NATIONAL PARKS: AMERICA'S BEST IDEA.
Filmmaker Ken Burns and his longtime colleague Dayton Duncan take us on a behind-the-scenes tour of their series THE NATIONAL PARKS: AMERICA'S BEST IDEA.
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- Content advisory
- Violence alcohol use smoking sexual content
- Subtitles
- None available
- Directors
- Ken Burns
- Producers
- Dayton DuncanKen Burns
- Cast
- Peter Coyote
- Studio
- PBS
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