Fall 2009: Our National Parks

Dear Friends:

Take a walk through San Francisco’s Crissy Field on a weekend afternoon, and you’ll find all kinds of people enjoying the outdoors. It is a park for everyone, a place where we can connect with each other and with nature, a sanctuary that opens its arms to all of us, regardless of age, race or background.

The same can be said of all of the parks in America’s National Park System. Ever since 1872, when Congress established Yellowstone National Park in the Territories of Montana and Wyoming “as a public park or pleasuring-ground for the benefit and enjoyment of the people,” America has endeavored to create our national parks as treasured resources for all Americans to enjoy, to nurture and to protect. The only condition attached to our use of the parks, as stated in the 1916 law creating the National Park Service, is that we do our best “to leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations.”

The Haas, Jr. Fund is a major supporter of a PBS film that tells the story of our National Parks. The National Parks: America’s Best Idea is created and produced by America’s preeminent documentary filmmakers, Ken Burns and Dayton Duncan.

From our early conversations with Ken and Dayton, it was clear that these extraordinary filmmakers would produce a compelling, dramatic, and visually stunning portrayal of the history of the National Parks. We also were intrigued by the idea that this film could help all Americans see a piece of themselves in the story of the National Parks, and foster a deeper appreciation of our nation’s rich diversity and how it continues to shape who we are.

A portion of the Haas Jr. Fund’s grant for the production of the film supported “Untold Stories,” a research effort to discover people of diverse backgrounds who have had a profound impact on the history of the parks. People like George Masa, a Japanese immigrant, who, through his breathtaking photography of the Great Smoky Mountains, played a critical role in the creation of that national park. And Sir Lancelot Jones, an African American in Florida, who insisted on preserving island land purchased by his father in the 1800s rather than selling it to developers. The land became the backbone of Biscayne National Park. The stories of George Masa and Sir Lancelot Jones, like many of the other stories that were the fruits of this research, have become an integral part of the larger film.

The Haas, Jr. Fund’s support for America’s Best Idea also included the largest-ever grant to PBS for a public outreach campaign. Using these funds, park sites and public television stations across the country are hosting events and community discussions, creating local television productions and websites, and engaging in other activities. The goal: to ensure that this story reaches audiences that may not feel a close connection to the National Parks, so that they can share a sense of belonging in the Parks and an understanding that the Parks are a resource for all of us to enjoy and protect.

As part of the outreach effort tied to the film, National Park sites will be working with their surrounding communities to collect their own “untold stories” about how Americans from many backgrounds have shaped the Parks. With support from the Haas, Jr. Fund and others, the National Park Foundation is providing $500,000 to 35 Park sites across the country for this work, and for other activities aimed at connecting all people to their Parks.

The Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund is committed to advancing and protecting fundamental rights and opportunities for all. These include the potential for all Americans to feel that they have an equal stake in our past, present and future, as well as the opportunity to enjoy the many resources we share. One of the enduring lessons from our work on the transformation of Crissy Field from a former military base into an urban park that attracts 1 million visitors each year was that people of varying interests and backgrounds will rally together in support of the National Parks if given the chance. It is our fervent hope that America’s Best Idea will encourage people in cities and towns across the country to find meaning in the story of the Parks, and inspire them to make these cherished places their own.

Enjoy the film!

And by all means, enjoy the splendor, majesty, history, and wonder of our national parks.