The National Parks: America's Best Idea
Filmed over the course of more than six years at some of nature’s most spectacular locales, The National Parks: America’s Best Idea is a six-part, 12-hour film by Ken Burns on the history of America’s national parks and the people who were willing to devote themselves to saving some precious portion of the land they loved.
The Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy is a proud sponsor of The National Parks: America’s Best Idea on KQED, airing September 27-October 2, 2009.
Learn more about the film here--and please share ForOurParks.org with your friends, colleagues, and loved ones to bring them into our family of park supporters!
Members-Only Discounts
As a thank-you to our members, the Parks Conservancy is offering a special member discount on several products associated with the documentary. Enjoy savings as spectacular as our parks on the six-DVD set, companion book, and CD for America's Best Idea.
Soundtrack CD
Featuring music by Bobby Horton, Jay Unger and Molly Mason, the film sountrack is sure to inspire. It includes four music videos viewable on your computer.
Available now--click here to purchase
25% off the list price of $18.98: $14.24 member price
Six-DVD Set
Enjoy The National Parks: America's Best Idea over and over again with your copy of this incredible film.
Pre-order available beginning September 29
DVD released on October 6
25% off the list price of $100: $75 member price
Coffee Table Book
The companion volume to the twelve-hour PBS series, written by Dayton Duncan and Ken Burns.
Available now--purchase online in our webstore or in one of our park stores
25% off of $50: $37.50 member price
More About the Film
America’s national parks spring from an idea as radical as the Declaration of Independence: that the nation’s most magnificent and sacred places should be preserved, not for royalty or the rich, but for everyone. In this evocative and lavishly illustrated narrative, Ken Burns and Dayton Duncan delve into the history of the park idea, from the first sighting by white men in 1851 of the valley that would become Yosemite and the creation of the world’s first national park at Yellowstone in 1872, through the most recent additions to a system that now encompasses nearly four hundred sites and 84 million acres.
The authors recount the adventures, mythmaking, and intense political battles behind the evolution of the park system, and the enduring ideals that fostered its growth. They capture the importance and splendors of the individual parks: from Haleakala in Hawaii to Acadia in Maine, from Denali in Alaska to the Everglades in Florida, from Glacier in Montana to Big Bend in Texas. And they introduce us to a diverse cast of compelling characters—both unsung heroes and famous figures such as John Muir, Theodore Roosevelt, and Ansel Adams—who have been transformed by these special places and committed themselves to saving them from destruction so that the rest of us could be transformed as well.
The National Parks is a glorious celebration of an essential expression of American democracy.
