National Parks: Related Programming
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 Sunday, September 6, 2009 at 8:00pm
Nature: Life in Death Valley
It is a visual wonderland, where imposing mountains rise almost two vertical miles above sprawling salt flats, and canyons are painted in strokes of blue, pink, violet and green from sunrise to sunset. This is Death Valley, one of the most inhospitable places on Earth. Nowhere else is a landscape so exquisite yet brutal. Ironically, it is water that has shaped this super-arid home of true survivors. more info | more stories like this
 Sunday, September 6, 2009 at 10:30pm
Crown of the Continent: Alaska's Wrangell - St. Elias
Filmmaker John Grabowska explores Alaska's visually spectacular region of Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, which includes the continent's largest assemblage of glaciers, the greatest collection of peaks above 16,000 feet, along with a dramatic valleys, wild rivers and a variety of wildlife. more stories like this
 Monday, September 7, 2009 at 10:00pm
Wild River: The Colorado
Follow the Colorado River from its headwaters in Rocky Mountain National Park through Utah's Westwater Canyon; the national parks of Canyonlands, Arches, Capitol Reef and Zion; the fragile beauty and rapids of the Grand Canyon; and into Mexico. The film is set to classical music by some of the world's greatest composers and is narrated by Joseph Campanella. more stories like this
 Tuesday, September 8, 2009 at 9:00pm
Yellowstone: Land to Life
People come to Yellowstone primarily because of the unusual thermal features and opportunities to view wildlife, often not realizing they are standing on one of the world's largest active volcanoes. This film presents the sweeping geologic story of Yellowstone, from glaciation to mountain-building to the gigantic caldera of a volcano, and explores the bonds between the landscape and biology. more stories like this
 Wednesday, September 23, 2009 at 8:00pm
Great Lodges of the National Parks
This two-part program is a fascinating tour of America's national parks and their charming historic lodges. The episodes take viewers to the edge of a volcano in Hawaii, to the Alaskan wilderness, to the rugged mountain peaks and pristine lakes of the Rockies, to Grand Teton, to the Olympic peninsula and to an oasis of hospitality in California's Death Valley. more stories like this
 Wednesday, September 23, 2009 at 10:00pm
Wallace Stegner
A portrait of Wallace Stegner. He was many things: teacher, historian and environmentalist but, above all, Wallace Stegner was a writer. Considered by many to be the "Dean" of western writers, he was a Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist and non-fiction author, with more than 30 full-length works and countless essays addressing the landscape, humankind's footprint and the evolution of a region and nation. more stories like this
 Sunday, September 27, 2009 at 8:00pm
The National Parks: America's Best Idea: The Scripture of Nature (1851-1890)
In 1851, word spreads across the country of a beautiful area of California’s Yosemite Valley, attracting visitors who wish to exploit the land for commercial gain and those who wish to keep it pristine. Among the latter is a Scottish wanderer named John Muir. In 1864, Congress passes an act that protects Yosemite from commercial development - the first time that any government has put forth this idea. more info | more stories like this
 Monday, September 28, 2009 at 8:00pm
The National Parks: America's Best Idea: The Last Refuge (1890-1915)
By the end of the 19th century, widespread industrialization has left many Americans worried about whether the country - once a vast wilderness - will have any pristine land left. Congress has yet to establish clear judicial authority or appropriations for the protection of the parks. This sparks a conservation movement by organizations such as the Sierra Club and the Audubon Society. more info | more stories like this
Tuesday, September 8, 2009 at 9:00pm
Yellowstone: Land to Life
People come to Yellowstone primarily because of the unusual thermal features and opportunities to view wildlife, often not realizing they are standing on one of the world's largest active volcanoes. This film presents the sweeping geologic story of Yellowstone, from glaciation to mountain-building to the gigantic caldera of a volcano, and explores the bonds between the landscape and biology. more stories like this  Tuesday, September 29, 2009 at 8:00pm
The National Parks: America's Best Idea: The Empire of Grandeur (1915-1919)
In the early 20th century, America has a dozen national parks, but they are a haphazard patchwork of special places under the supervision of different federal agencies. The conservation movement, after failing to stop the Hetch Hetchy dam, pushes the government to establish one unified agency to oversee all the parks, leading to the establishment of the National Park Service in 1916. more info | more stories like this
 Tuesday, September 29, 2009 at 10:00pm
The Mystery of George Masa
A chronicle of George Masa, a Japanese immigrant who became well known in the Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina as a photographer, hiker and explorer. Masa, who was instrumental in the founding of Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the mapping and building of the Appalachian Trail, left a cloudy memory due to his mysterious past, his untimely death, and the passage of time. Until now. more info | more stories like this
 Wednesday, September 30, 2009 at 8:00pm
The National Parks: America's Best Idea: Going Home (1920-1933)
While visiting the parks was once predominantly the domain of Americans wealthy enough to afford the high-priced train tours, the advent of the automobile allows more people than ever before to visit the parks. The Park Service embraces this opportunity and works to build more roads in the parks. Some park enthusiasts begin "collecting" parks, making a point to visit as many as they can. more info | more stories like this
 Wednesday, September 30, 2009 at 10:00pm
Paving the Way: The National Park-to-Park Highway
The story of twelve motorists who took a 5,000-mile epic road trip before there were gas stations and fully paved roads. In 1920, the inaugural tour of the Park-to-Park Highway connected all twelve National Parks in the West. Only the rich could afford travel to the National Parks, but the inaugural tour opened the door for the "everyman," with his newly affordable automobile, to visit them as well. more info | more stories like this
 Thursday, October 1, 2009 at 8:00pm
The National Parks: America's Best Idea: Great Nature (1933-1945)
To battle unemployment in the Great Depression, Franklin D. Roosevelt creates the Civilian Conservation Corps, which spawns a "golden age" for the parks through major renovation projects. In a groundbreaking study, a young NPS biologist named George Melendez Wright discovers widespread abuses of animal habitats and pushes the service to reform its wildlife policies. more info | more stories like this
Wednesday, September 30, 2009 at 10:00pm
Paving the Way: The National Park-to-Park Highway
The story of twelve motorists who took a 5,000-mile epic road trip before there were gas stations and fully paved roads. In 1920, the inaugural tour of the Park-to-Park Highway connected all twelve National Parks in the West. Only the rich could afford travel to the National Parks, but the inaugural tour opened the door for the "everyman," with his newly affordable automobile, to visit them as well. more info | more stories like this  Friday, October 2, 2009 at 8:00pm
The National Parks: America's Best Idea: The Morning of Creation (1946-1980)
Following World War II, the parks are overwhelmed as visitation reaches 62 million people a year. A new billion-dollar campaign - Mission 66 - is created to build facilities and infrastructure that can accommodate the flood of visitors. A biologist named Alfred Murie introduces the revolutionary notion that predatory animals, which are still hunted, deserve the same protection as other wildlife. more info | more stories like this
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