The Last Episode

Tonight, The National Parks: America's Best Idea came to an end. It went out in blaze of glory as wolves were reintroduced into Yellowstone National Park in 1995. This was the culmination of work by George Wright and his protege Adolph Murrie, Park Service biologists who realized that wildlife in its wild state was an integral part of the parks and that all animals, both cute and ferocious, belonged there.

Biscayne NP was the featured park in this episode, along with the Alaska parks. Between President Carter wielding the Antiquities Act and Congress declaring National Parks, 1978-80 saw a huge increase in National Park acreage. It was a thrill to see the map of Alaska go from containing just Mount McKinley National Park to containing eight National Parks and other huge areas of protected land.

The person who figured prominently in this episode is Stewart Udall, Secretary of the Interior to Presidents Kennedy and Johnson. His name is well known to conservationists and parks buffs. Under his watch, many parks were added to the system and George Hartzog was appointed as Park Service Director. The people highlight of the episode was when the various talking heads from the series told their own National Park stories.

Burning out on Burns

Last night's episode of The National Parks: America's Best Idea was the least enjoyable so far. It was probably mostly because I was tired, but after 8 or 9 hours of the show, I think I am starting to get tired of watching it. Perhaps they should have spaced the episodes out a bit, say two or three episodes a week over a few weeks. Part of it was also Ken Burns' fault. In this episode he went off on a fairly long tangent, the only one in the series. My attention wavered and never really came back for the rest of the episode. This also illustrates Ken Burns' primary flaw: his style is very slow and interest in his shows requires deep interest in the material itself. I don't think anyone could watch a Ken Burns documentary about a subject in which they weren't especially interested.

Of course, there were several things in the episode which were interesting. The CCC, Roosevelt's best idea, was covered. We are still enjoying the results of their labor. One thing I was not aware of is that Franklin Roosevelt and his Secretary of the Interior, Harold Ickes, were very interested in National Parks and the best friends of the parks in Washington since Theodore Roosevelt. It was they who brought battlefields and memorials into the Park Service as well as adding several more parks.

The featured park was Everglades NP, which was the first National Park to be created for the purpose of preserving wildlife rather than scenery or history. This new attitude was largely due to George Wright, a Park Service biologist who studied wildlife in the parks and stressed its importance. He helped institute modern wildlife management techniques, specifically letting wildlife be wild rather than entertainment. Grand Teton NP was finally expanded to include Jackson Hole after Rockefeller issued an ultimatum. He had held the land for 15 years and was getting tired of waiting. He told the president to either accept the land donation or he would sell it. The ultimatum had the desired effect.

Tonight is the final episode, which will feature the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act, the only decent thing to come out of Jimmy Carter's administration.

The Parks Become Popular

Last night's episode of The National Parks: America's Best Idea largely focused on the increasing popularity of the National Parks. This was due to two factors: the rise of the automobile and Stephen Mather's realization that he must make the parks car-friendly to attract more people which would then encourage Congress to authorize more parks. Mather was a practical man. His PR man Robert Sterling Yard was an idealist and thought Mather was ruining the parks. He founded the National Parks Association (now the National Parks Conservation Association) and co-founded the Wilderness Society.

One of the highlight for me was following the Gehrtz family as they visited as many National Parks as they could. It reminded me of The War, where we followed certain soldiers through their experiences. The other highlight was the beginning of the National Park rangers, trained professionals who replaced inept political appointees. If I were a bit younger and didn't care much about salary, being a ranger would be my dream job.

The main parks in this episode were Grand Canyon and Great Smoky Mountains. The park service finally got rid of all private claims in the former and the latter was authorized and realized. Also in this episode, John Rockefeller Jr. began secretly buying up land in Jackson Hole for addition to Grand Teton NP. Tonight's episode should be interesting when the cattlemen find out. Also in tonight's episode will be the CCC, in my opinion Roosevelt's greatest idea.

The National Park Service is Formed

In tonight's episode of The National Parks: America's Best Idea, Grand Canyon and Acadia are the featured parks. Many people had wanted the Grand Canyon to be a National Park for a long time, and it was finally designated as such in 1919, the same year as Acadia.

Acadia brings me to my gripe about this series. In the greater scheme of things it is only an annoyance, but nevertheless I don't like it. Burns repeatedly fails to give us fine historical detail such as the fact that Acadia's original name was Sieur de Monts National Monument. The show implies that it was Acadia National Monument. Likewise, he fails to mention that it was made a National Park under the name of Lafayette National Park, which was later changed to Acadia NP, though he is clear that there was some name other than Acadia at the time. I am also still irritated that he completely ignored the second National Park, Mackinac NP. To his credit, he did point out that Zion NP's original name was Mukuntuweap National Monument.

Putting my gripes aside, this was my favorite episode so far, as it focused on the birth of the National Park Service, my favorite government agency, and its first director, Stephen Mather. His assistant, Horace Albright, who succeeded him as director, also features prominently. I might point out here that Albright's book, The Birth of the National Park Service, is a great read. I had forgotten what an impediment Gifford Pinchot, the head of the Forest Service, was. Burns makes sure to point this out in tonight's and last night's episodes. It is always fun to have a bad guy around, especially when we know things turned out fine in the end.

We are halfway done with the series now, and I am convinced that it is the television event of the century, just as I had assumed it would be. Ken Burns rules!

The Excitement Builds

Tonight's episode of The National Parks: America's Best Idea centered on our greatest conservation president, Theodore Roosevelt. The highlight was when Congress passed the Antiquities Act and Roosevelt seized upon it to declare several National Monuments. This act was largely the work of Iowa Congressman John Lacey, of whom I was previously not aware. He was quite important in the early protection of the National Parks, and I have now added him to my list of National Park heroes. The sad part of the episode was John Muir's loss in the fight to prevent Hetch-Hetchy Valley from being flooded as a reservoir. I personally do not think this is such a tragedy, but Muir felt otherwise.

Tomorrow's episode should be even more exciting, as we get to the founding of the National Park Service and presumably quite a bit on Stephen Mather and Horace Albright.

Ken Burns Does Not Disappoint

Last night, PBS showed the first episode of The National Parks: America's Best Idea. It was just as good as I had hoped for. It is not the show to watch if you just want to see pretty pictures of national parks. It is for someone who wants to know the history of the parks. I have a whole bookshelf of national park books, and I am very interested in the history. John Muir was prominently featured in this episode, as he will be in tonight's episode along with Theodore Roosevelt, our greatest conservation president. Yellowstone and Yosemite were the featured parks, and the episode ends with the total number of parks standing at four: Yellowstone, Yosemite, Sequoia, and General Grant (now part of Kings Canyon NP). I was disappointed that Burns did not mention Hot Springs Reservation (now Hot Springs NP), which pre-dated Yosemite by 30 years, or Mackinac National Park (now Mackinac Island State Park), which was the second national park after Yellowstone, as part of the early history. I suppose that they did not quite fit the narrative. In any project, you have to decide what to leave in and what to leave out. If you missed the first episode, you can catch it on the PBS web site.