THE NATIONAL PARKS: AMERICA’S BEST IDEA | John Wesley Hill
Posted: July 7th, 2010 | Author: | Filed under: Parks And Campgrounds | Tags: AMERICA'S, BEST, Hill, IDEA, John, NATIONAL, Parks And Campgrounds, Wesley | 6 Comments »
www.pbs.org Ken Burns’s newest film, THE NATIONAL PARKS: AMERICA’S BEST IDEA, premiering Sunday-Friday, September 27-October 2, 2009, at 8 pm ET/PT, features a John Wesley Hill quotation that asks what inspires love of the flag, that tunes the ear of America to sing, My country, tis of thee. For more information on the film, visit www.pbs.org
Haha! Fantastic irony!
Most national parks were carved from public lands, requiring no private investment for the actual set-aside. A few, like Acadia and Grand Teton, benefited greatly from the investment of the wealthy, but by and large these parks and landscapes were very inexpensive to create, requiring very little wealth.
I can’t wait for this documentary. I hope that, in this tight economic towns, people find ways to find other than public funding to maintain these parks.
National Parks would not exist unless people had the leisure time to go and appreciate the landscape – and then write things like this quotation – the second time through – it actually feels so sickly sweet it is getting vomit making. The National Parks are one of America’s Best Ideas but not the only one and certainly are dependent on wealth and the culture of the time.
Yeah, Teddy Roosevelt did alot for this county during the industrial revolution. Creating the national parks was to ensure that he sowed a seed of a good legacy, he had it all figured out.
actually it is all of these that gave the wealth that gave the Americans the money and ability to set aside and then visit their National Parks. Sounded wonderful but you have to be a rich country to have National Parks that you can enjoy.