The National Parks: America's Best Idea S01E03 · The Empire of Grandeur (1915 – 1919)

Overview

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. Its first director, Stephen Mather, a wealthy businessman and passionate park advocate who fought vigorously to establish the NPS, launches an energetic campaign to expand the national park system and bring more visitors to the parks. Among his efforts is to protect the Grand Canyon from encroaching commercial interests and establish it as a national park, rather than a national monument.

Torrents

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Episodes

1. 1 1. The Scripture of Nature (1851 – 1890)2009-09-27 · 1h 54mIn 1851, word spreads across the country of a beautiful area of California's Yosemite Valley, attracting visitors who wish to exploit the land's scenery for commercial gain and tho
2. 2 2. The Last Refuge (1890 – 1915)2009-09-28 · 2h 11mBy 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.
3. 3 3. The Empire of Grandeur (1915 – 1919)2009-09-29 · 1h 51mIn 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 conserv
4. 4 4. Going Home (1920 – 1933)2009-09-30 · 1h 55mWhile 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 e
5. 5 5. Great Nature (1933 – 1945)2009-10-01 · 1h 54mTo 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 pr
6. 6 6. The Morning of Creation (1946 – 1980)2009-10-02 · 1h 54mFollowing 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 in