Ken Burns visits Yosemite Institute

Filmmaker visits Yosemite Institute

In late April, Acclaimed documentary filmmakers Ken Burns and Dayton Duncan visited Yosemite National Park for a screening of selected clips from their new documentary, The National Parks: America’s Best Idea.

Directed by Ken Burns, and written by Dayton Duncan, the 12-hour, six part documentary series took over six years to film. It tells the history of our National Parks through the stories of the people who helped shape them. The series will begin airing September 27, 2009 on PBS.

The best job in the world?

Burns visited with Yosemite Institute staff members at a Yosemite Park Partners mixer at the Ahwahnee Hotel. In a speech at the event, Burns and Duncan had claimed that they have the best jobs in the world, but Yosemite Institute Educator Betsy Rivera begged to differ. After a playful argument over which of them could claim the "Best Job in the World" title, the two resorted to arm wrestling for the honor.

Ken Burns out in the field

Ken Burns and Dayton Duncan experienced a Yosemite Institute field science program first-hand. The two joined a teaching group and participated in their “Build a National Park” activity that highlighted how important conservation and education are to the preservation and protection of our National Parks.

Get Involved

• Share your experiences in our National Parks. You can upload your videos, photos, and stories.
• Participate in online chats in July and August with Ken Burns and Dayton Duncan.
• Create a personalized email postcard for your friends and family using photos from the series.
• Collect National Parks badges for use on your website, Facebook page, or MySpace page.