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MAN: One of the last jobs
l had in Yellowstone was

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delivering the
mail on snowmobile.

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There l was in the world's
first national park,

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and l remember going down
into Hayden Valley.

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There were bison crossing
over the road--

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2,000-pound mammals

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crossing over the road,
and it was so cold.

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lt was about 60 below zero.

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And the bison, as they
breathed, their exhalation

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would seem to crystallize in
the air around them, and there

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were these sheets, these
ropey stands of crystals kind

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of flowing down
from their breath.

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And l saw them, and they just
moved their heads and were

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looking at me, and l remember
thinking that if l had not

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been on that machine, l would
have thought l had been thrust

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fully back into
the Pleistocene, back into

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the ice age.

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And l remember just
stopping and turning it off

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because the only way you could
hear was to turn that thing

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off, and l would turn it off,
and l would listen, and l felt

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like this was the first day...

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and this morning was the first
time the sun had ever come up

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and the shadows that are being
cast right now is the first

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time those shadows have
ever been cast on the earth.

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And l was all alone, but l
felt l was in the presence

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of everything around me
and l was never alone.

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lt was one of those moments
when you get pulled outside

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of yourself into the
environment around you,

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and l felt like l was just
with the breath of the bison

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as they were exhaling and
l was exhaling and they

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were inhaling.

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lt was all kind of flowing
together, and l forgot

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completely about the mail.

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All l was thinking of
was that a single moment

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in a place as wild as
Yellowstone, and most

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of the national parks,
can last forever.

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ANNOUNCER: Major funding
for the production

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of ''The National Parks''
was was provided by...

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the Corporation
for Public Broadcasting

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and by contributions
to your PBS stations from...

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WOMAN: ln other parts
of the world,

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there are certain areas
that are preserved

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because some rich nobleman
out of the goodness of his heart

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decided to decree it.

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But in the United States,
you don't have to be

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dependent on some rich guy
being generous to you.

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To me that's what
national parks mean.

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lt's a symbol of democracy,
democracy when it works well...

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at its best.

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KEN BURNS: What's amazing
about the parks

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is that it's so intimate.

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lt's really about
''Who am l? Who am l?''

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And the parks provide
this incredibly powerful force

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that holds ourselves
up to ourselves.

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MAN AS JOHN MUlR:
We are now in the mountains,

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and they are in us,
kindling enthusiasm, making

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every nerve quiver, filling
every pore and cell of us.

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Our flesh-and-bone tabernacle
seems transparent as glass to

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the beauty about us, neither
old nor young, sick nor well,

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but immortal.

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DAYTON DUNCAN: lt was a perfect
topic for us to deal with.

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l remember thinking, ''OK. We
should do this series on the

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''parks, and now l got to
convince my best friend

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''that we should do it,''

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and l started telling him,
''Well, it's like baseball, like

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jazz--''lt's
an American invention.

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''lts first tentative expression
was taken in 1864

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''when a president named
Abraham Lincoln--''

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And he said, ''OK.
We'll do it.''

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Nobody's told the story.

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We know which lodges
to stay at,

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we know beautiful scenes
of nature.

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We have the post card
view of this,

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but how did this happen?

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Was it really
the first national park

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that Americans invented?

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Yes, it was.

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How did it come about?

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Was the park service
always there?

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No, it wasn't.

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Who made them happen?

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ln many cases,
ordinary people,

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a bottom-up story of people
who just happened

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to have fallen in love
with a place

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and were willing
to devote in some cases

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their lives
and their fortunes,

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their sacred honor
to creating a wonderful place

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00:05:01,581 --> 00:05:03,549
that we now get to enjoy,

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and you have an unbelievably
interesting history.

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MAN AS HORACE ALBRlGHT: As
we sat on logs, l began to

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unfold my dream for the area

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and how l had been trying
for years to save the Tetons

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and the whole valley
north of Jackson.

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Mr. And Mrs. Rockefeller
listened.

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When l finished,
they remained silent

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as we watched the sun disappear
behind the jagged peaks,

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casting long, sharp shadows
across the valley.

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l felt a little let down.

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Here l had laid out
my fondest dream,

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and there was no word
or comment.

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PETER CO YOTE:
But 4 months later,

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Albright was invited to
Rockefeller's new York office

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to discuss the Tetons again.

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This time he showed Rockefeller
detailed maps and cost estimates

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for a modest plan
to purchase some of the land

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near Jackson Lake.

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WOMAN: And Mr. Rockefeller
studied it quite a while,

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and then he shook his head.

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And he looked up and he said,
''Mr. Albright,

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''this is interesting
and everything,''

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but he said,
''This isn't what l meant.

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''l want to know how much it
would cost to buy that valley.''

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And my father, l heard him
so many times tell the story,

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and he said, ''My heart
stopped beating right then...

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''the whole valley.''

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BUDDY SQUlERS: This film took us
really to Alaska,

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to the Everglades,
to Hawaii Volcanoes,

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to Acadia National Park
in Maine.

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lt's been a dream job,
l mean, to be able to travel

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to the most beautiful places
in this country

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and some of the most
beautiful places on Earth

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and do it for 5 years
and only go

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at the best time of year,
in the best light

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with the most
incredible cooperation

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from the Parks Department
to make everything happen.

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lt's just been fantastic.

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[Animal squealing]

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He's right behind you.

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BURNS: l remember
that first moment in Santa Fe

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and then later
at Chaco Canyon

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and then later
in Yosemite in 2003,

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and it's been
an incredibly amazing journey

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ever since that's taken us

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literally around this amazingly
beautiful country of ours.

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DUNCAN, VOlCE-OVER:
Our research process is also

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part of our filming process.

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So while we're in a park,
we might be filming in a park

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before l've written a script,

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and while we're there,
the ranger that has showed us

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a particular viewpoint
mentions some story

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that we were unaware of,

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and that works its way
into the script.

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DUNCAN: This would be
a very good time

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for a moose to swim
across right now.

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DUNCAN, VOlCE-OVER: lt's been
a great experience for us

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not only learning history,
but if you got to get up

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00:08:06,099 --> 00:08:11,059
at 5:00 in the morning
to be shooting when dawn rises,

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boy, you can't pick
a better place to be

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than a national park.

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lt is the preservation of
the scenery, of the forests,

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and the wilderness game for
the people as a whole instead

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of leaving the enjoyment
thereof to be confined to

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the very rich.

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lt is noteworthy in its
essential democracy, one

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of the best bits of national
achievement which our people

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have to their credit, and our
people should see to it that

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they are preserved for their
children and their children's

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children forever with their
majestic beauty all unmarred.

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Theodore Roosevelt.

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BURNS: Well, l think the heroes
are the ones that you'd sort of

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at first blush expect
if you knew even

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a little bit
about American history.

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Theodore Roosevelt
is important.

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John Muir, the mountain prophet,

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who sort of screeched up
in my consciousness

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to within the top 10.

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l mean, he's just about
as great as you get.

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Franklin Roosevelt,

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but at the same time,
the story that we're telling

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engages 3 or 4 dozen people that
you've never heard of before,

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amazing human beings from every
conceivable walk of life,

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who in the course of their lives
just felt it was important

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to save a precious place
and did so.

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WOMAN AS MARJORY STONEMAN
DOUGLAS: l can't say l've spent

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many years and months
communing with the Everglades.

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To be a friend of the
Everglades is not necessarily

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00:10:05,285 --> 00:10:09,278
to spend time wandering
around out there.

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lt's too buggy, too wet,
too generally inhospitable.

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l suppose you could say the
Everglades and l have the kind

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of friendship what
doesn't depend on constant

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physical contact.

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l know it's out there,
and l know its importance.

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Marjory Stoneman Douglas.

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BURNS: We're obviously looking
at something bigger

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than ourselves.

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l think that we were awakened
by doing this project,

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and we hope that in some ways
the stories that we tell

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of the people
who made the parks,

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the images that we've
gotten back

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have been in the spirit
of those larger ideas.

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MAN AS GEORGE MELENDEZ WRlGHT:
Our national heritage is richer

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than just scenic features.

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The realization is coming that
perhaps our greatest national

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heritage is nature itself with
all its complexity and its

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abundance of life.

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00:11:06,980 --> 00:11:10,848
George Melendez Wright.

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00:11:10,883 --> 00:11:16,412
MAN: George Melendez Wright
was a savior of wildlife

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00:11:16,456 --> 00:11:20,688
in America's national parks,
but more importantly,

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00:11:20,727 --> 00:11:23,093
George Melendez Wright
is a savior

200
00:11:23,129 --> 00:11:26,690
of the national park ideal.

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00:11:33,873 --> 00:11:37,434
DUNCAN: Our series is
filled with heroes,

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00:11:37,477 --> 00:11:42,972
heroes who are totally unknown
to most Americans,

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00:11:43,016 --> 00:11:46,281
people from every
conceivable background:

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00:11:46,319 --> 00:11:49,982
rich people, who through
their wealth and their

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00:11:50,023 --> 00:11:54,790
philanthropy created parks;
poor people, who gave pennies

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00:11:54,827 --> 00:11:58,263
to help save
the great Smokies;

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00:11:58,297 --> 00:12:01,596
a descendant of slaves,
who helped save

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00:12:01,634 --> 00:12:04,797
Biscayne National Park;

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00:12:04,837 --> 00:12:07,328
immigrants, who fell
in love with a place

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00:12:07,373 --> 00:12:10,570
and through their artistry
helped bring that place

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00:12:10,610 --> 00:12:14,376
to people's attention.

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00:12:14,414 --> 00:12:17,577
MAN AS CHlURA OBATA:
l dedicate my paintings first to

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00:12:17,617 --> 00:12:21,917
the great nature of
California, which has always

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00:12:21,954 --> 00:12:29,417
given me great lessons,
comfort, and nourishment,

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00:12:29,462 --> 00:12:34,422
second to the people who share
the same thoughts as though

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00:12:34,467 --> 00:12:39,370
drawing water from one
river under one tree.

217
00:12:42,742 --> 00:12:48,442
My paintings, created by the
humble brush of a mediocre man,

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00:12:48,481 --> 00:12:50,472
are nothing but
expressions of my

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00:12:50,516 --> 00:12:53,974
whole-hearted praise
and gratitude.

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00:13:00,259 --> 00:13:01,817
DUNCAN: Every park has its hero,

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00:13:01,861 --> 00:13:06,298
and l think that is really the
heart and soul of this series.

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00:13:08,768 --> 00:13:11,498
BURNS: lndividuals do matter.

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00:13:11,537 --> 00:13:15,837
William Gladstone steel
in the 1870s

224
00:13:15,875 --> 00:13:18,844
happened to accidentally
see a picture

225
00:13:18,878 --> 00:13:20,812
of Crater Lake in Oregon

226
00:13:20,847 --> 00:13:24,044
in a newspaper that had
wrapped his lunchtime meal,

227
00:13:24,083 --> 00:13:25,710
and he resolved to go there,

228
00:13:25,751 --> 00:13:27,776
and he once he did get there
15 years later,

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00:13:27,820 --> 00:13:29,651
he devoted another 17 years

230
00:13:29,689 --> 00:13:33,489
to trying to get it created
into a national park,

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00:13:33,526 --> 00:13:36,518
which he helped do.

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00:13:36,562 --> 00:13:39,030
MAN AS WlLLlAM GLADSTONE STEEL:
lmagine a vast mountain,

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00:13:39,065 --> 00:13:41,226
6 by 7 miles through,

234
00:13:41,267 --> 00:13:45,795
at an elevation of 8,000 feet
with the top removed

235
00:13:45,838 --> 00:13:48,033
and the inside hollowed out,

236
00:13:48,074 --> 00:13:51,805
then filled with the clearest
water in the world,

237
00:13:51,844 --> 00:13:54,369
and you have
a perfect representation

238
00:13:54,413 --> 00:13:56,904
of Crater Lake.

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00:13:56,949 --> 00:13:59,417
Everything is a kind of portrait

240
00:13:59,452 --> 00:14:01,716
because it's human beings
asking these questions,

241
00:14:01,754 --> 00:14:04,086
it's human beings
saving these places,

242
00:14:04,123 --> 00:14:06,523
it's human beings trying
to destroy these places,

243
00:14:06,559 --> 00:14:08,618
and all of the great stories

244
00:14:08,661 --> 00:14:11,129
that this narrative
gets caught up in,

245
00:14:11,164 --> 00:14:13,655
l think, are part
of this great human drama.

246
00:14:36,022 --> 00:14:38,286
WOMAN: They're
islands of hope.

247
00:14:38,324 --> 00:14:41,782
The parks are always where
l can go home again.

248
00:14:41,827 --> 00:14:44,421
l go back to my hometown,
there is a Safeway where l

249
00:14:44,463 --> 00:14:47,455
used to play with
Sylvia Gonzalez, they have taken

250
00:14:47,500 --> 00:14:50,264
and turned my old school
into a junk shop,

251
00:14:50,303 --> 00:14:53,033
but the parks don't do that.

252
00:14:53,072 --> 00:14:56,405
So these are places we
can always go home

253
00:14:56,442 --> 00:15:00,208
and paradoxically that we can
always see into the future

254
00:15:00,246 --> 00:15:03,443
and hope for the
better things.

255
00:15:03,482 --> 00:15:07,009
JOHNSON: When we look at parks
and we look at the United States

256
00:15:07,053 --> 00:15:11,820
and we examine the whole idea
of democracy, l think that

257
00:15:11,857 --> 00:15:13,916
the park experience
is an exploration

258
00:15:13,960 --> 00:15:17,123
of the idea of freedom.

259
00:15:17,163 --> 00:15:20,826
Where do l come from,
where am l going,

260
00:15:20,866 --> 00:15:24,666
how did l get here, how did
we as a people get here?

261
00:15:24,704 --> 00:15:28,071
l think that when people go
to a national park, they

262
00:15:28,107 --> 00:15:32,043
get a sense,
a compass to history.

263
00:15:37,550 --> 00:15:40,348
BURNS: We've frozen
to death--heh heh--

264
00:15:40,386 --> 00:15:42,411
you know, in below-zero weather.

265
00:15:42,455 --> 00:15:47,085
We've filmed
in broiling hot temperatures.

266
00:15:47,126 --> 00:15:49,651
lt's every extreme,
and yet, you know,

267
00:15:49,695 --> 00:15:53,392
l don't think there's any of us
that ever complained about this,

268
00:15:53,432 --> 00:15:57,926
that didn't feel that we were
part of this privileged moment

269
00:15:57,970 --> 00:15:59,995
of being able to
capture this stuff.

270
00:16:00,039 --> 00:16:02,098
l just love these.

271
00:16:02,141 --> 00:16:03,506
SQUlERS: Like, if you follow
the ridgeline down--

272
00:16:03,542 --> 00:16:05,271
BURNS: Yeah, l know,
l know. l just did.

273
00:16:05,311 --> 00:16:10,840
DUNCAN: We have shot
in 53 of the 58 national parks.

274
00:16:10,883 --> 00:16:13,283
We extended
our shooting schedule

275
00:16:13,319 --> 00:16:16,220
by about two years
for a project of this size

276
00:16:16,255 --> 00:16:18,815
mainly because there's
so many places we needed to go.

277
00:16:18,858 --> 00:16:21,258
The parks themselves,
the places themselves

278
00:16:21,294 --> 00:16:24,058
are in essence characters
in our film.

279
00:16:24,096 --> 00:16:26,929
We wanted to be able
to interview them

280
00:16:26,966 --> 00:16:28,399
as extensively as possible,

281
00:16:28,434 --> 00:16:30,925
and some of them we went
3 different seasons

282
00:16:30,970 --> 00:16:32,995
to visit them.

283
00:16:33,039 --> 00:16:35,303
BURNS: We're filming in Denali,

284
00:16:35,341 --> 00:16:37,070
and it has only one road.

285
00:16:37,109 --> 00:16:39,703
lt's 90 miles long,
and most of it is dirt

286
00:16:39,745 --> 00:16:41,474
and completely unimproved,

287
00:16:41,514 --> 00:16:44,608
and that's the way the park
wants it to be,

288
00:16:44,650 --> 00:16:47,585
and so you have a sense that
this is just your

289
00:16:47,620 --> 00:16:49,815
little ribbon of territory.

290
00:16:49,855 --> 00:16:52,449
Don't leave this line,
this is where you go,

291
00:16:52,491 --> 00:16:56,257
and the beasts there, the moose,
all the other animals,

292
00:16:56,295 --> 00:16:58,263
but for me especially the bear,

293
00:16:58,297 --> 00:17:01,460
and one day where it was
in early August,

294
00:17:01,500 --> 00:17:04,663
we were pursuing
these brown bears in Alaska,

295
00:17:04,704 --> 00:17:06,399
and you just--we look
at each other,

296
00:17:06,439 --> 00:17:09,237
and, you know, it's great.

297
00:17:23,255 --> 00:17:26,315
ln this film, the landscape
really is the character.

298
00:17:26,359 --> 00:17:28,088
lt's one of the characters,
it's the main character.

299
00:17:28,127 --> 00:17:30,357
l mean, it is a film
about the parks,

300
00:17:30,396 --> 00:17:32,227
so, you know,
thankfully, we have

301
00:17:32,264 --> 00:17:34,255
this incredible landscape
to work with,

302
00:17:34,300 --> 00:17:36,734
and it's so varied,
and it's so beautiful.

303
00:17:36,769 --> 00:17:38,760
[Helicopter flying]

304
00:17:41,207 --> 00:17:43,971
l think the most amazing
experience l had was

305
00:17:44,009 --> 00:17:45,909
in Hawaii Volcanoes.

306
00:17:49,115 --> 00:17:50,707
l was actually shooting handheld

307
00:17:50,750 --> 00:17:53,412
out the backdoor
of a helicopter.

308
00:17:53,452 --> 00:17:56,649
lt started out--we flew up
to the top of the crater,

309
00:17:56,689 --> 00:18:02,958
and we were probably flying
15 feet over the active volcano,

310
00:18:02,995 --> 00:18:06,795
and l could feel the heat
singeing my feet.

311
00:18:06,832 --> 00:18:09,995
lt was so hot.

312
00:18:10,035 --> 00:18:12,503
We then flew out and over
to the coast,

313
00:18:12,538 --> 00:18:15,632
where this lava, which l think
is around 2,000 degrees,

314
00:18:15,674 --> 00:18:17,699
is just pouring into the ocean,

315
00:18:17,743 --> 00:18:19,734
and as it hits the ocean,
it sends up

316
00:18:19,779 --> 00:18:21,576
these huge plumes of steam,

317
00:18:21,614 --> 00:18:28,986
and also the lava itself
kind of explodes out.

318
00:18:29,021 --> 00:18:31,080
During the day,
you don't really see

319
00:18:31,123 --> 00:18:32,988
the immensity of the lava field,

320
00:18:33,025 --> 00:18:36,688
but at night,
miles of earth glow,

321
00:18:36,729 --> 00:18:41,428
and to fly over glowing,
hot, red, molten earth

322
00:18:41,467 --> 00:18:43,458
is so exciting.

323
00:18:43,502 --> 00:18:45,265
lt's just an amazing,
amazing experience,

324
00:18:45,304 --> 00:18:46,771
and, you know, hopefully,
some of that comes

325
00:18:46,806 --> 00:18:49,400
through in the film.

326
00:18:49,442 --> 00:18:52,934
DUNCAN: Some of our shoots,
we hiked long distances.

327
00:18:52,978 --> 00:18:57,074
We had a pack train to carry
some of our equipment sometimes.

328
00:18:57,116 --> 00:18:58,845
We had to trudge
through snow.

329
00:18:58,884 --> 00:19:03,821
We had to carry equipment
a mile, 2 miles,

330
00:19:03,856 --> 00:19:07,019
sometimes 8 miles
to get the shots

331
00:19:07,059 --> 00:19:09,653
that we needed
depending on the park.

332
00:19:13,032 --> 00:19:15,159
But on the whole,
the Park Service has done

333
00:19:15,201 --> 00:19:17,135
such a great job of saying,

334
00:19:17,169 --> 00:19:19,137
this is a really good place
to stop and look

335
00:19:19,171 --> 00:19:20,638
at that mountain peak

336
00:19:20,673 --> 00:19:23,198
or to see this cascade

337
00:19:23,242 --> 00:19:26,541
or just to experience
what this park has to offer

338
00:19:26,579 --> 00:19:31,846
that much of what we shot
are views that

339
00:19:31,884 --> 00:19:34,751
any American family
with a park map

340
00:19:34,787 --> 00:19:39,247
and a desire to see what
that park has to offer

341
00:19:39,291 --> 00:19:40,849
they could find, too.

342
00:19:54,673 --> 00:19:56,937
JOHNSON: Whenever someone enters
a national park,

343
00:19:56,976 --> 00:20:00,070
it's like going
to another world.

344
00:20:01,180 --> 00:20:03,671
And l think that people
feel that transition,

345
00:20:03,716 --> 00:20:06,310
they feel that sense that
they've gone to someplace better

346
00:20:06,352 --> 00:20:08,081
than what they've left behind,

347
00:20:08,120 --> 00:20:10,452
but the irony is
that where they've gone

348
00:20:10,489 --> 00:20:12,480
is the place
where they've always been.

349
00:20:12,525 --> 00:20:14,720
lt's just now
they understand it,

350
00:20:14,760 --> 00:20:17,558
now they see it,
now they feel it

351
00:20:17,596 --> 00:20:21,794
because parks are like
going home.

352
00:20:21,834 --> 00:20:23,324
BURNS: You know, it's funny,
you tell people we were working

353
00:20:23,369 --> 00:20:25,963
on ''The National Parks,''
and there's some assumptions.

354
00:20:26,005 --> 00:20:28,371
lt's sort of like,
''l know all this before,''

355
00:20:28,407 --> 00:20:31,535
and you don't,
and we didn't,

356
00:20:31,577 --> 00:20:34,102
and l would wager that it's
the best cinematography

357
00:20:34,146 --> 00:20:37,138
we've ever done
as a collection of filmmakers,

358
00:20:37,182 --> 00:20:41,084
but it also represents
incredible archival research,

359
00:20:41,120 --> 00:20:45,056
thousands of images
from private archival hands,

360
00:20:45,090 --> 00:20:46,921
still photographs
of people's scrapbooks

361
00:20:46,959 --> 00:20:49,018
that we put together.

362
00:20:49,061 --> 00:20:50,961
MAN ON MONlTOR:
l had better get to it.

363
00:20:50,996 --> 00:20:52,429
BURNS: OK. Now.

364
00:20:52,464 --> 00:20:54,329
Now was the time.

365
00:20:54,366 --> 00:20:55,993
BURNS, VOlCE-OVER: And it's
delivered us experiences

366
00:20:56,035 --> 00:20:59,334
just as filmmakers
and as colleagues and friends

367
00:20:59,371 --> 00:21:00,736
that l don't think
we've ever had

368
00:21:00,773 --> 00:21:03,435
on any other production before.

369
00:21:03,475 --> 00:21:06,706
WOMAN ON MONlTOR: l wondered if
l could ever get in all of it.

370
00:21:11,784 --> 00:21:13,513
BURNS: One of the greatest
moments of my life

371
00:21:13,552 --> 00:21:16,544
was a Friday when my dad
drove me to Front Royal

372
00:21:16,589 --> 00:21:18,989
at the very top
of the Skyline Drive

373
00:21:19,024 --> 00:21:23,120
and a very modest park,
Shenandoah National Park.

374
00:21:23,162 --> 00:21:26,359
l spent, you know,
two magnificent days,

375
00:21:26,398 --> 00:21:29,993
this weekend,
just my dad and me doing hikes,

376
00:21:30,035 --> 00:21:33,937
which l sort of exaggerated
into tens of miles.

377
00:21:33,973 --> 00:21:35,941
l'm sure they were
a mile-and-a-half hike,

378
00:21:35,975 --> 00:21:37,408
waterfalls that were immense,

379
00:21:37,443 --> 00:21:40,742
and l'm sure they were cascades
of just a few meters in length.

380
00:21:40,779 --> 00:21:44,306
Catching salamanders,
these bright orange salamanders

381
00:21:44,350 --> 00:21:46,944
under the decaying
red rot of a log.

382
00:21:46,986 --> 00:21:49,614
l mean, that means as much
to me as anything else,

383
00:21:49,655 --> 00:21:52,988
and that's the heart
of these experiences.

384
00:21:53,025 --> 00:21:55,323
The experience is
who l went with,

385
00:21:55,361 --> 00:22:01,925
and that becomes--who that
hand is holding means a lot.

386
00:22:01,967 --> 00:22:03,696
MAN AS ROBERT STERLlNG YARD:
Already the national parks

387
00:22:03,736 --> 00:22:06,534
are beneficently affecting
the national mind.

388
00:22:08,307 --> 00:22:11,435
Nowhere else do people
from all the states mingle

389
00:22:11,477 --> 00:22:15,538
in quite the same spirit as
they do in their national parks.

390
00:22:17,816 --> 00:22:21,616
One sits at dinner, say,
between a Missouri farmer

391
00:22:21,654 --> 00:22:23,622
and an ldaho miner,

392
00:22:23,656 --> 00:22:26,284
and at supper between
a New York artist

393
00:22:26,325 --> 00:22:28,418
and an Oregon shopkeeper.

394
00:22:29,995 --> 00:22:32,793
One climbs mountains
with a chance crowd

395
00:22:32,831 --> 00:22:35,857
from Vermont, Louisiana,
an Texas...

396
00:22:35,901 --> 00:22:38,301
and sits around
the evening campfire

397
00:22:38,337 --> 00:22:40,134
with a California grape grower,

398
00:22:40,172 --> 00:22:42,470
a locomotive engineer
from Massachusetts,

399
00:22:42,508 --> 00:22:44,499
and a banker from Michigan.

400
00:22:47,479 --> 00:22:51,643
Here the social differences
so insisted on at home

401
00:22:51,684 --> 00:22:53,675
just don't exist.

402
00:22:55,354 --> 00:22:57,322
Perhaps for the first time,

403
00:22:57,356 --> 00:23:02,191
one realizes the common America
and loves it.

404
00:23:05,864 --> 00:23:11,063
ln the national parks,
all are just Americans.

405
00:23:14,873 --> 00:23:18,331
BURNS: l think something
draws us there.

406
00:23:18,377 --> 00:23:19,571
Everybody feels it.

407
00:23:19,611 --> 00:23:23,809
The most jaded city dweller

408
00:23:23,849 --> 00:23:27,751
can't help but have their
molecules rearranged

409
00:23:27,786 --> 00:23:30,380
just a little bit
in one of these places,

410
00:23:30,422 --> 00:23:33,255
and what's so interesting
is that when Thomas Jefferson

411
00:23:33,292 --> 00:23:34,759
sort of conceived
of our country,

412
00:23:34,793 --> 00:23:37,819
he saw this whole place
as an Eden,

413
00:23:37,863 --> 00:23:39,228
and so he didn't need
a national park.

414
00:23:39,264 --> 00:23:40,925
He just assumed
it would remain

415
00:23:40,966 --> 00:23:43,696
in this agrarian
kind of pristine state,

416
00:23:43,736 --> 00:23:44,896
but that didn't happen.

417
00:23:44,937 --> 00:23:46,905
We filled up the continent
very quickly,

418
00:23:46,939 --> 00:23:50,102
and all of a sudden, we began
to experience this anxiety--

419
00:23:50,142 --> 00:23:51,700
what if we run out
of these places,

420
00:23:51,744 --> 00:23:55,236
what does it say about ourselves
if we let these places go?

421
00:23:55,280 --> 00:23:58,010
And l think it animated
this impulse to just try

422
00:23:58,050 --> 00:24:01,713
to save these places.

423
00:24:03,255 --> 00:24:06,053
lt's these moments that
we all get transformed

424
00:24:06,091 --> 00:24:09,254
as we sit in front
of this beauty and realize

425
00:24:09,294 --> 00:24:11,524
had we let these places go,

426
00:24:11,563 --> 00:24:13,497
we would be
a much poorer country,

427
00:24:13,532 --> 00:24:16,501
we would be
a much poorer people.

428
00:24:18,737 --> 00:24:21,672
MAN: We need national parks
to have people--

429
00:24:21,707 --> 00:24:25,666
especially our kids--
understand what America is.

430
00:24:27,379 --> 00:24:31,440
America's not sidewalks,
America's not stores.

431
00:24:31,483 --> 00:24:37,285
America's not video games,
America's not restaurants.

432
00:24:37,322 --> 00:24:39,688
We need national parks
so people can go there

433
00:24:39,725 --> 00:24:42,319
and say, ''Ah. This is America.''

434
00:24:54,306 --> 00:24:57,207
ANNOUNCER: ''The National Parks:
America's Best ldea''

435
00:24:57,242 --> 00:24:59,176
continues online.

436
00:24:59,211 --> 00:25:00,906
Sign up for e-mail updates,

437
00:25:00,946 --> 00:25:02,072
watch clips,

438
00:25:02,114 --> 00:25:03,240
and download screensavers

439
00:25:03,282 --> 00:25:04,647
and wallpaper of scenery

440
00:25:04,683 --> 00:25:06,207
from the film.

441
00:25:06,251 --> 00:25:09,687
lt's all online at pbs.org.

442
00:25:09,721 --> 00:25:11,052
ANNOUNCER: Major funding
for the production

443
00:25:11,089 --> 00:25:14,183
of ''The National Parks''
was was provided by...

444
00:25:16,195 --> 00:25:18,493
the Corporation
for Public Broadcasting

445
00:25:18,530 --> 00:25:21,590
and by contributions
to your PBS stations from...