Ken Burns Gone Wild: Naturalizing the Nation in The National Parks: America's Best Idea

The release of Ken Burns's documentary on the national parks is to be celebrated for bringing national attention to the field of environmental history. Yet for all the movie's strengths, Burns only partially engaged two concepts central to contemporary environmental history: social difference and the cultural construction of nature. As a result, the series devoted less attention than it might have to such important issues as the removal of Native Americans from the national parks and to the ways nature in the parks has changed over time.