The National Parks

Trace the history of “America’s best idea” from their birth in the mid-1800s up to the present day. Simultaneously a biography of compelling characters and a biography of the American landscape. Filmed over the course of more than six years in some of nature’s most spectacular locales—from Acadia to Yosemite, Yellowstone to the Grand Canyon, the Everglades of Florida to the Gates of the Arctic in Alaska—National Parks is as much a story of people from every conceivable background 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. Using archival photographs, first-person accounts of historical characters, personal memories and analysis from more than 40 interviews, and breath-taking cinematography, the series chronicles the steady addition of new parks through the stories of the people who helped create them and save them from destruction.