You cannot improve it
Ken Burns’ newest film, THE NATIONAL PARKS: AMERICAS BEST IDEA, premiering Sunday-Friday, September 27-October 2, 2009, at 8 p.m. ET/PT, depicts Theodore Roosevelts first visit to the grandest canyon of them all. Upon seeing the Grand Canyon for the first time, President Roosevelt was overwhelmed by its spectacular beauty. He asked the people of Arizona to keep this great wonder of nature as it now is. Leave it as it is. You cannot improve it.
Historian Clay Jenkinson explains why he believes the presidents statement is the finest thing that has ever been said about the national parks.
For more information on the film, visit http://www.wosu.org/national-parks or http://www.pbs.org/nationalparks
From a personal standpoint, Ken Burns is both a great storyteller and a superb historian. You may not agree with his assertions (re: Jackie Robinson, Duke Ellington), but he states his case beautifully, and his material is never dull. The interviews he gets are textbook studies in the art of asking the right questions to the right people.
– Scott Gowans