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SPECIAL EDITION |
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On September 27, Ken Burns Presents
"THE NATIONAL PARKS: AMERICA'S BEST IDEA" |
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This month, the National Park Foundation is helping America's best
storyteller bring the grandeur of our parks to your living room. On September
27, PBS will premiere Ken Burns' highly anticipated film
THE NATIONAL PARKS: AMERICA'S BEST IDEA.
The National Park Foundation is proud to be a core partner and funder of the
documentary.
The film tells the unlikely stories of the
everyday heroes who took action to protect and preserve the land and historic
monuments that they loved. It is thanks to their bravery and foresight we
celebrate America's National Parks and what Historian Wallace Stegner called "America's
Best Idea." Join us in a national park near you on September 26 to make
America's Best Idea even better. |
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Make America's Best Idea Even
Better |
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In honor of National Public
Lands Day and the premiere of Ken Burns's
documentary
THE NATIONAL PARKS: AMERICA'S
BEST IDEA on PBS, the National Park
Foundation and the National Park Service
will hold an unprecedented
national
service and film screening event on
Saturday, September 26.
On this day, every one of
your 391 national parks, along with
other participating public lands and partner
locations, will invite you, the American
people, to come enjoy your parks for FREE
and volunteer your time to help the parks in
the ways they need it most. As part of the
event, park visitors will be treated to a
special sneak preview of a portion of the
Ken Burns documentary before its PBS
premiere the following evening, September
27. |
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Although this is a nationwide event,
each park is uniquely customizing its
activities to address its most
critical local needs and to honor the work
of local volunteers, friends groups and
park
supporters. Other participating partners
including Merrell, Unilever and others, will
honor the day through special in-store
events, activities and more.
Learn More
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| The National Park Foundation, the official charity of America's national parks, works to strengthen the enduring connection between the American people and their parks and to provide support to the National Park Service by raising private funds, making strategic grants, creating innovative partnerships and increasing public awareness. NPF is proud to be a major funder of the new Ken Burns documentary series, The National Parks: America's Best Idea and congratulates Florentine Films and PBS for producing this historic film. |
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National Park Foundation
1201 Eye Street 550B
Washington, DC 20005
Donate |
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Public Broadcasting Service
2100 Crystal Drive
Arlington, VA 22202
Donate |
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Flight 93 — Courage Remembered |
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Upon This
Sacred Ground, Courage Remembered is the
theme for the eighth anniversary of the
crash of Flight 93 in Shanksville,
Pennsylvania on September 11, 2001. A new
national park is being created at this
sacred ground, commemorating the heroism of
the 40 passengers and crew members. |
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A number of activities will
take place in observance of September 11. A
special ceremony will be held in Shanksville
during the morning and is open to the
public. General Colin Powell will deliver
keynote remarks, and country music performer
Trace Adkins will sing the national anthem.
The names of the passengers and crew members
will be read at 10:03 a.m. — the exact time
of the crash — by family members, first
responders and local residents.
A small
group of Flight 93 family members are
embarking on
Ride With the 40, a
cross-country motorcycle journey to
"complete Flight 93." The riders will leave
from Newark Liberty International Airport on
September 3 and stop in towns and cities
along the way before arriving in San
Francisco on September 11. A traveling
temporary memorial, similar to one displayed
in Shanksville, will accompany the riders
during their 3,000-mile trek.
In addition, an up-to-date
listing of these and other activities to
commemorate Flight 93 and September 11, as
well as information about supporting the
Flight 93 National Memorial Campaign, can be
found at
honorflight93.org. |
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America's Best Idea Grants |
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The National Park Foundation has granted
$500,000 to 35 parks across the country —
from Alaska to Florida — to help parks reach
out to underserved audiences in their
communities. Named after the forthcoming Ken
Burns documentary, the America's Best Idea Grants
have helped young people capture and share
their park experiences through digital
storytelling.
This week the Associated Press wrote about
the America's Best Idea Grants, including an
interview with Secretary Ken Salazar, who
said "These programs are vital if America is
going to address the growing crisis in this
country of children growing up indoors with
little connection to nature and to our
country's rich historical and cultural
heritage."
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In Kansas, all five of the state's
national parks collaborated on an
essay contest titled "I
Too Am America." From more than
300 entries, a final group of five
winners was selected from schools
around the state, representing
student projects in documentary film
making, poetry, personal narratives
and essays. |
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In
Denali National Park,
seven Native Alaskan high school
students from Anchorage spent three days
in
a remote field
camp, making digital recordings of the park.
They're now
working with community elders and park
rangers to produce stories from those
recordings that reflect their cultural
connections to the land. |
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In New Mexico's
Bandelier National
Monument, five local Pueblo
teens spent the summer interning |
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at the park, learning about their own
heritage as they taught park visitors about
the ecological and historical wonders of the
park. |
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Explore Your Parks: Download the
National Park Owner's Manual |
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The National Park Foundation's
Owner's Guide is designed to make your national park
experience better than ever. Full of advice about
what to see and do, including maps of every state
and links to each national park Website, the Owner's
Guide offers an insider's view of the special places
we love and the opportunity to experience them to
their fullest.
Download
an Owner's Guide for free, and explore your parks as
you never have before. |
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Your Parks Video Challenge |
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In the News |
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Park Stewards Grants Awarded
The National Park Foundation has created the
Park Stewards program to help parks
meaningfully engage high school teachers and
students in developing curriculums and
service-learning activities that benefit the
parks and build a sense of stewardship.
Teachers spent eight weeks at their local
national parks, working with park staff to
develop projects that will then be
implemented throughout the school year. With
support from Bank of America, 13 national
parks will take part in this pilot year of
the program. |
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Coming Soon!
Visit the
THE NATIONAL PARKS: AMERICA'S BEST IDEA companion
Website this September for interactive resources from content related to the film. On the site you will find extensive information about the series and the filmmakers, interviews with Ken Burns and Dayton Duncan, essays on the history of the national parks and the exceptional individuals who played a role in their development, extended lesson plans, video clips and much more. |
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| Owner's Guide 2009 >> | |
| The ultimate resource for exploring your national parks |
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Which national park is home
to 25 keys, or small
islands?
Submit your answer here |
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And congratulations to our
last quiz question winner,
Melody Hermance of Simi
Valley, California, who
correctly answered that
paleontologists discovered "Gertie,"
a 225-million-year-old
dinosaur, in Petrified
Forest National Park. |
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SHARE AMERICA'S BEST IDEA |
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Join our online
communities! |
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PBS |
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PBS will donate 5% of
the proceeds
from
DVD
pre-sales of Ken Burns
The National Parks:
America's
Best Idea
to the National
Park Foundation. |
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Official Federal
Recreation Lands
PHOTO CONTEST >> |
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