Comments on: TV Weekend: Ken Burns' National Parks

By: Investing in CleanTech

Investing in CleanTech — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 14:36:04 +0000

[...] Monument to cover much of the Mojave. (See map.) She must have thought the timing right, given the positive reception to the recent PBS series The National Parks: America’s Best Idea, by Ken Burns. She would [...]

By: personalfinancefund

personalfinancefund — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 11:16:53 +0000

Your concern is justified: “I do have several doubts about the documentary, even though I have only seen the preview. For instance, will it be too kind when presenting the stories of how some of the national parks were created in part by forcing tribes and settlers to move off their land?”
Burns has said that the series starts with the Mariposa Battalion removing Indians from Yosemite in 1851, and his producer Duncan has said that the removal of the rural community at Cades Cove for the Smokies in the 1930s is mentioned, but nothing beyond that. And don’t count on the film revealing how arrogant and brutal these population displacements are because that mentality persists within the NPS today. They are pretending that this is all ancient history, ignoring how NPS has for a century continued to arrogantly and forcibly remove owners of homes, land, farms and small businesses all over the country — from the Indians in the early western parks to Acadia (still going on today) on the east coast — on behalf of wealthy, politically-connected and media-savy backers who know how to exploit the power of government to get what they want. So the scope of the omissions is much worse than ‘tribes and settlers’ and much more contemporary.
http://www.wildlifeworld360.com/

By: agile187

agile187 — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 18:50:37 +0000

Truly great television. Yes, a little long. But well worth it. I actually watched with tears in my eyes at times, admiring the beauty and commitment that it took to dedicate and preserve these parks.

By: National Parks « Tracy’s Weblog

National Parks « Tracy’s Weblog — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 16:30:24 +0000

[...] PBS is currently showing a Ken Burns series on National Parks. GREAT pictures and interesting history. I encourage everyone to watch. More info here and here. [...]

By: quiller4

quiller4 — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 05:28:09 +0000

It is a wonderful miniseries and not just for 3 or 4 hours. I’m watching each night and intend to buy the CD and book because I just cannot get enough. It is the best television I’ve seen in years.

By: Digging » Last gasp of summer?

Digging » Last gasp of summer? — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 21:31:55 +0000

[...] still here, and we’re going to sit around and play Aggravation this afternoon and watch the Ken Burns’ The National Parks on PBS this evening. I hope you have an enjoyable, relaxing Sunday afternoon [...]

By: James Poniewozik

James Poniewozik — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 16:40:37 +0000

Oy. Fixing, thanks.

By: gyoungphd

gyoungphd — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 16:25:41 +0000

“Sufferage”? What a serendipitous typo! Thanks!

By: dwimby

dwimby — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 16:06:28 +0000

Nature porn? Maybe I’ll go with the soppy old prose of Muir, Burns and Duncan.

By: philospeak

philospeak — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 13:24:47 +0000

LOL…that was the article’s “money shot”, for sure.

By: Matt

Matt — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 19:31:11 +0000

“It is enough to give a nature lover a petrified woodie.”

And that just about sums up why people love your blog