Aerial.America.S05E11.Wilderness
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00:00Throughout America are pockets of land where nature rules, and man is merely a visitor.
00:15These are the country's wildest places, protected by a groundbreaking law called the Wilderness
00:22Act.
00:26For 50 years, it's preserved land that's both inspired a nation and sustained it.
00:36These areas tell America's story, from Native American history, to westward expansion, to
00:46grassroots conservation.
00:57This is the American Wilderness.
01:16There are many things about America that are unique, but there's one thing in particular
01:44that sets it apart.
01:47This was the first nation to protect wilderness by law, with the Wilderness Act of 1964.
01:56For 50 years, it's preserved places Americans love, and that's largely because of one man
02:04and his devotion to the outdoors.
02:10In the summer of 1956, a writer and conservationist named Howard Zonneiser packed up his family
02:16and drove west, to Wyoming's Grand Tetons.
02:25He'd just written the first draft of the Wilderness Act, which he hoped would protect places like
02:31this forever.
02:36That summer, Zonneiser was taking a break to write about family camping.
02:42And though he didn't climb mountains, he admired them.
02:48He hiked with his wife and four children, and relaxed by the region's many lakes.
02:59Then they drove north, to Yellowstone and beyond.
03:11Zonneiser was among a small but growing group of conservationists in the 1950s.
03:18They'd seen dams and roads affect national parks, and they were concerned about mining
03:25and logging on other protected land.
03:34Zonneiser and his fellow advocates believed Americans needed a new law, one that would
03:40keep some places completely wild.
03:46He spent the next eight years working towards that goal.
03:52Zonneiser repeatedly lobbied Congress, and wrote 66 drafts of the Wilderness Bill.
04:05On September 3, 1964, it became law, and designated 54 wilderness areas.
04:15In 2014, the law's 50th anniversary, it will have protected more than 750 regions in the
04:24U.S. and Puerto Rico.
04:30These places have the government's highest level of protection.
04:40Some are within easy reach of the nation's biggest cities.
04:46Others are best accessed by bush plane.
04:58This pilot is flying to Denali Wilderness in south-central Alaska.
05:04It sits in the middle third of Denali National Park, and covers more than two million acres.
05:14Within the wilderness, strict rules keep the area in its natural state, and visitors must
05:20leave no trace.
05:26The plane is delivering climbers hoping to summit Mount McKinley.
05:37Today's mountaineers arrive thanks to specially equipped landing gear.
05:46But early explorers navigated this area by dog sled.
05:53Among them was a wilderness advocate named Marty Murie.
06:01She went to McKinley in 1922, where a biologist named Olas proposed.
06:10They became an inseparable scientific team.
06:17The Muries spent months in the field, doing pioneering studies on Alaskan wildlife.
06:26Later, they became grassroots leaders of the conservation movement.
06:32For decades, they pushed for wilderness protection of Denali.
06:42In 1980, their work paid off.
06:47Congress gave wilderness status to Denali and another 55 million acres of land.
06:57All of it was in Alaska.
07:12One of the state's best known wilderness areas is in southern Alaska, on the rugged
07:29Pacific coast.
07:35Katmai Park and Wilderness is home to the world's largest concentration of brown bears.
07:43Hunting and habitat loss nearly wiped these animals out in the lower 48.
07:49But in Katmai, there's room to roam.
07:56They dig for clams on the coast, then wander miles inland to fish.
08:08Wilderness helps sustain 3,000 bears.
08:20It also preserves a key research area for scientists.
08:27The Valley of 10,000 Smokes is home to the biggest volcanic eruption of the 20th century.
08:38On June 6, 1912, a volcanic vent named Novorupta rumbled to life.
08:47For 60 hours, it spewed magma and ash, decimating the once green valley.
08:56Birds fell from the sky.
08:59All the mosquitoes were wiped out.
09:05The eruption was so powerful, the peak of a nearby volcano collapsed, forming a caldera.
09:16Scientists still don't fully understand the mechanics of the eruption.
09:25Wilderness status keeps the area pristine, so research can continue more than a century
09:30later.
09:35But of all Alaska's vast wilderness areas, one is the granddaddy of them all.
09:42Wrangell-St. Elias.
09:48This remote spot was put on the map because of a mining camp.
09:54The old mining town of Kennecott serves as one of two main entry points to the wilderness,
10:00which is bigger than Switzerland.
10:10It stretches over four mountain ranges, including the Wrangell and the St. Elias.
10:22In the midst of the mountain kingdom is one of the world's most precious resources, ice.
10:33The Bagley Ice Field lies in the southern part of the wilderness.
10:41It's the largest ice field in North America, 25 times bigger than the island of Manhattan.
10:50On the surface, spots of melting snow create ponds and channels that refreeze into blue
10:56ice.
11:02Only single-cell organisms can survive here, but the Bagley is a lifeline.
11:14It produces glaciers, rivers of ice that stretch in all directions.
11:25Six feed the Copper River, which makes up the southern border of Wrangell-St. Elias.
11:33The river creates streams, which deposit nutrients into the Copper River Delta.
11:40And in these lush wetlands, wildlife thrives.
11:52Each spring, the Delta hosts the largest gathering of shorebirds in the Western Hemisphere.
12:01Up to 10 million birds stop here to rest and eat before migrating north.
12:17The rich waters are vital to hundreds of species, like sea otters, who gather to dive
12:23for crabs and fish.
12:32Alaska's wilderness is rich, but remote.
12:38In the lower 48, wilderness is widespread and often within reach.
12:52In Florida, half an hour from Miami, is Everglades National Park.
13:05The park covers 1.5 million acres on the state's southern tip.
13:11Eighty-four percent of it is Marjory Stoneman Douglas wilderness.
13:18It was named for a woman who learned about the Everglades by chance.
13:27In 1942, Douglas was asked to write a book about the Miami River.
13:32She suggested the Everglades instead, which many considered a useless swamp.
13:40Douglas discovered it was an ecosystem that revolved around a river as wide as the state.
13:50The water flows from Lake Okeechobee.
13:54It feeds what Douglas called a river of grass.
13:59Today, the Everglades provides drinking water to millions and protects 24 threatened and
14:11endangered species.
14:19The ecosystem suffered a devastating blow in the 1950s with the construction of the
14:25Tamiami Canal and Trail.
14:30The government built it to stop flooding on farmland, but the canal cut off water flow.
14:40Huge pieces of the Everglades dried up.
14:51Many animals, including the wood stork, lost their nesting grounds.
14:59The birds moved north, but the nesting season there was too short and the food too sparse.
15:08The adults couldn't keep their babies alive.
15:14The animals dwindled from thousands to hundreds.
15:27Today they're making a comeback, thanks to wildlife and wilderness protection.
15:34One of the biggest environmental efforts is the Everglades Restoration Project.
15:40The multi-million dollar undertaking will try to restore some of the river's original
15:45route.
15:53The wilderness is one of the few that extends onto the ocean floor.
16:00This area is protected for animals like sea turtles, which have been on the endangered
16:05species list for decades.
16:11Oil spills and poaching threaten them throughout the Gulf of Mexico.
16:19But they have a refuge eight miles off the Mississippi coast, in Gulf Islands Wilderness.
16:28It's part of Gulf Islands National Seashore.
16:34The area contains strictly protected nesting grounds for the most endangered sea turtle,
16:40the Kemp's Ridley.
16:43People hunted the animals to near extinction in the 1950s.
16:51In the 70s, they gained federal protection, as did the Gulf Islands.
16:59Now each summer, when the hatchlings emerge, the coast is clear.
17:08They're hardwired to head for the ocean, 30 feet away.
17:20Instinctively they'll remember this beach.
17:24In a decade, it will become their nesting ground.
17:36The Wilderness Act is designed to protect areas like these forever.
17:47The law might not have been possible without one president, and his time in the North Dakota
17:53Badlands.
17:59Teddy Roosevelt National Park is home to three wilderness areas in the western reaches of
18:04the state.
18:09In 1883, Roosevelt boarded a train headed west.
18:15He was 24, newly married, and eager to hunt bison.
18:23It was his first extended trip out west, and it changed his life.
18:33Roosevelt spent 15 days in the Badlands, with a cattle rancher as his guide.
18:41Afterwards, he bought a ranch on the banks of the Little Missouri River, and built a
18:46small cabin.
18:49He intended to return here with his new wife, but five months later, she died after childbirth.
19:01His mother had passed away hours earlier.
19:10The Badlands became Roosevelt's refuge.
19:17He went on weeks-long hunting trips, and threw himself into ranch work.
19:25In the coming years, he witnessed overgrazing on grasslands as cattle ranching grew.
19:33He called the mass hunting of buffalo a veritable tragedy.
19:40Conservation became increasingly important to the young Republican.
19:49As president, Roosevelt protected 230 million acres of land.
19:57His foresight saved many of America's most beautiful places.
20:06Across the country, Washington State is home to a well-recognized landmark, Mount Rainier.
20:14It's at the center of Mount Rainier National Park, which was established in 1899.
20:22Congress has designated nearly all of it wilderness.
20:31The area was important to naturalist John Muir, a forefather of the environmental movement.
20:40He came here in 1888 to climb Rainier and write about his journey.
20:52Muir and four other men navigated treacherous crevasses and ice cliffs.
21:03At 10,000 feet, they stopped at what's now Camp Muir.
21:10The next day, they reached the summit.
21:19He later wrote that the lights that shine from mountains illumine all that lies below.
21:30Muir went on to help found the Sierra Club and advise presidents.
21:37He spearheaded three national parks, including Rainier.
21:51One hundred miles northwest of the park is one of the country's most important coastal
21:56areas.
21:59Olympic National Park and Wilderness sits in Washington's northwest corner.
22:09Its 900,000 acres includes some of the nation's best-preserved shoreline.
22:17The coastal area is speckled with sea stacks, which serve as habitats for 300 species of
22:23birds.
22:48Life in and around the wilderness depends on water.
22:54But for nearly a century, a river that fed the area was blocked.
23:05The Elwha snakes from the coast to the wilderness boundary.
23:18Two dams were built here in the 1900s to generate power.
23:26They had an unintended result.
23:28Ten species of fish couldn't swim inland to today's wilderness.
23:35Millions died, and an important food source was lost.
23:45In the 1980s, local citizens lobbied Congress to remove the dams.
23:53The government began tearing them down in 2011.
23:59Today, some of the long-absent fish are back, returning a key part of the food chain to
24:08the area.
24:23Further inland, the wilderness is bigger than Rhode Island.
24:29At its center is Mount Olympus, part of the Olympic Range.
24:36Within these jagged peaks are 60 glaciers, including the Blue Glacier.
24:47It feeds area rivers, which flow into the Hoh Rainforest.
24:54This is among the country's few remaining temperate rainforests.
25:02They once stretched from Oregon to Alaska, but many were used for logging.
25:10The forests are protected from harsh weather by the surrounding mountains.
25:16The mountains trap ocean moisture and lead to 12 feet of rain each year.
25:27The rich vegetation feeds animals like the Roosevelt elk, which roam the area in large
25:33herds.
25:37Wilderness gives animals sanctuaries, both in the Northwest and the Midwest, home to
25:47a land of a thousand lakes.
25:57Three Waters Canoe Area Wilderness sits in northern Minnesota, on the Canadian border.
26:06It was a sacred place for conservationist Sigurd Olsen.
26:23In 1923, Olsen and his pregnant wife settled in the nearby town of Ely, so he could teach
26:29high school.
26:33He took summer work as a canoe guide.
26:40Olsen led hundreds of fishing and camping expeditions, and taught others about the area.
26:52He became a leading nature writer, coming up with ideas at his cabin in the woods.
27:04Olsen's work influenced a generation of young people to enjoy the outdoors and protect it.
27:13He was a leading spokesman for the Wilderness Act, and his advocacy was key in protecting
27:20the Boundary Waters.
27:34Fourteen hundred miles away, in New Mexico, a far different wilderness preserves remnants
27:41of an ancient civilization.
27:44The Chandelier National Monument covers more than 33,000 acres in the northern part of
27:50the state.
27:52Congress designated 90% of it as wilderness.
28:01People enter the wilderness through Frijole Canyon, which contains some of the country's
28:05best-preserved cliff dwellings.
28:13Ancestral Pueblo people came here in the 12th century.
28:18They constructed buildings with bricks of soft volcanic rock.
28:26Behind the structures, they carved rooms into the cliffs.
28:34The Pueblo survived here for 400 years.
28:39Overpopulation and drought forced them to move.
28:46At Bandelier, their legacy remains, protected for generations to come.
29:03More than 600 miles northwest of Bandelier, wilderness status protects a unique volcanic
29:09area.
29:13Craters of the Moon, in southern Idaho, contains the largest lava field in the continental
29:18U.S.
29:21The flows came from fissures, or cracks, in the Earth's surface.
29:29Researchers believe eight volcanic events occurred here in the last 15,000 years.
29:38The eruptions created 25 cinder cones, each of which is a small volcano.
29:54A local explorer recognized the region's scientific value in the early 1900s.
30:02He pushed for federal protection.
30:07Today, the wilderness allows researchers to study how nature heals.
30:21This area is home to thousands of plant and animal species.
30:30Among them is the pika, a relative of the rabbit, which makes its home in broken lava.
30:42Two hundred miles northwest of this area is one of the state's most important wildernesses.
30:53In western Idaho, the Snake River is the driving force of a wilderness called Hell's Canyon.
31:04It gained protection through conservation leader Frank Church.
31:12He became a U.S. Senator in 1957 and walked into a heated debate about whether to dam
31:18the region.
31:21Lawmakers wanted to use the river as they had elsewhere, for hydroelectric power and
31:26irrigation.
31:32Senator Church was behind it.
31:35Dams meant development.
31:39But as companies fought over construction, he learned more about the canyon.
31:46It's North America's deepest gorge and a vital route inland for salmon.
31:55The fish are a cornerstone of plant and animal life in central Idaho.
32:10Church led the campaign to stop the dams.
32:15He also took the first steps towards wilderness designation.
32:21Over the next 30 years, Church continued to fight for Idaho's backcountry.
32:31He was instrumental in the protection of an area 80 miles away, known simply as the Frank.
32:40The Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness is the state's biggest protected area.
32:51It's one of the country's most remote places, 2.3 million acres of unmatched whitewater
32:58and wildlife.
33:04The Frank is so big, most people access it by bush plane.
33:12From the air, visitors fly over the Bighorn Crags, jagged summits that rise 10,000 feet.
33:24They're part of the Salmon River Mountains, which make up the central part of the Rockies.
33:32More than half of this area is so wild, there aren't even hiking trails.
33:41The Frank's size is vital for wide-ranging animals like mountain goats.
33:48They must travel long distances to forage for vegetation.
33:53Here, they have the habitat they need to move between peaks and valleys.
34:02The Frank has been vital for protecting and reintroducing species like wolves, which were
34:08brought back in the 1990s.
34:24Wilderness has given animals a second chance, both in Idaho and hundreds of miles away on
34:31the California coast.
34:38Wilderness leaders were motivated in part by residents of cities like San Francisco.
34:45Conservationists believed people needed respites from urban areas.
34:53Thirty miles north of the city is Point Reyes National Seashore, a third of which is wilderness.
35:03Before federal protection, the area was used for ranching and dairy farming.
35:12Some of that land use encroached on habitats for animals, including the Thule elk.
35:23Nearly 500,000 once roamed central California.
35:30In the mid-1800s, most were killed by market hunters and gold prospectors.
35:40By 1860, the elk were thought to be extinct.
35:47But a cattle rancher had secretly given refuge to the last herd.
35:54In 1978, the animals were reintroduced to Point Reyes.
36:01More than 3,000 now roam the seashore.
36:13Point Reyes beaches are vital to elephant seals.
36:18Thousand-pound females come here each year to rear their pups.
36:24They nurse and nap for a month.
36:32Then they return to their feeding grounds 5,000 miles away.
36:47Nearly 400 miles southeast of Point Reyes is the Lower 48's biggest wilderness.
36:53The North Valley.
36:56This is the hottest, driest, lowest place in the country.
37:03Yet it's home to 1,000 species of plants and more than 400 kinds of animals.
37:22The area may be best known for the story of the Lost 49ers.
37:29In December of 1849, a prospector named William Manley brought a wagon train here.
37:37He was leading 25 people, including women and children, to gold country.
37:45Manley was looking for a shortcut.
37:50Instead, he faced one of the world's most foreboding landscapes.
37:59Water was nowhere in sight.
38:03There were no signs of life.
38:07He managed to get the wagons across the desolate valley.
38:11But they couldn't cross the mountains.
38:17The families were trapped and starving.
38:22Finally, Manley and another man went for help.
38:27They thought they'd return in a few weeks.
38:33But the journey took a month.
38:40Amazingly, the families had survived.
38:45They'd found a spring for drinking water and hunted small game.
38:51Afterwards, they named the area Death Valley.
39:02In the nearby state of Utah, desert wilderness looks far different in Zion National Park.
39:12It's the state's most popular park, drawing 2.5 million visitors each year.
39:20Congress designated 86% of it wilderness in 2009.
39:28The area was protected for its stunning rock monoliths and deep sandstone canyons.
39:37They were formed millions of years ago, when winds blew sand dunes on top of each other,
39:43until they reached depths of 2,000 feet.
39:51Today, people flock to Angels Landing, a 2.4-mile hike that ascends 5,800 feet.
40:02The reward is one of the best views in Zion.
40:14Amid the rocks is a green valley, home to the Virgin River.
40:21It feeds the sparse desert vegetation and nourishes area wildlife.
40:31Sixty-eight species of mammals live here, including the bighorn sheep.
40:39The animals were vital to Native Americans, who used them for food, clothing, and tools.
40:47Pioneers nearly hunted the sheep to extinction, but in 1973, eight animals were reintroduced to Zion.
40:58Today, more than 500 roam this part of the country.
41:05Wilderness is widespread in the West, particularly in Colorado's Rocky Mountains.
41:30It's home to Rocky Mountain National Park, 95% of which is wilderness.
41:38The area exists largely because of a kid who liked to climb mountains.
41:46In 1884, a sickly 14-year-old named Enos Mills left Kansas for Colorado.
41:55His family hoped the mountain air would improve his health.
42:06At 15, Mills climbed Longs Peak, which is at the center of today's wilderness.
42:14The mountain became his passion and his livelihood.
42:21Mills built an inn and later worked as a nature guide.
42:30He was the leading advocate for the park, which was established in 1915.
42:40Mills' foresight made wilderness protection possible in 2009.
42:49Since Mills' time, Colorado citizens have played a pivotal role in preserving their state's wild places.
42:59In the 1960s, three Aspen mothers organized one of the nation's first community-led wilderness campaigns.
43:09The women met in each other's kitchens and pored over maps of the surrounding mountains.
43:19They hiked into potential wilderness areas to gather data, and they rallied community support.
43:31Their efforts led to the protection of more than 400,000 acres around Aspen, including Maroon Bells Snowmass Wilderness.
43:46Today, their innovative work serves as a model for community organizing nationwide.
44:00In southern Colorado, grassroots efforts led to the protection of Great Sand Dunes National Park and Wilderness.
44:10300,000 people come here each year to see the strange contrast of sand and mountains.
44:19At nearly 750 feet, the dunes are the highest in North America, as tall as a 60-story building.
44:30They were formed over thousands of years as windswept sediment became trapped between the mountains and plains.
44:41The dune field is one of the most complex in the world, but wilderness designation allows people to explore it.
44:53It's just one of dozens of protected areas in the Rockies, preserved by everyday people.
45:03Arizona is home to a park and wilderness set aside to protect a species of plants.
45:15Saguaro National Park sits in southern Arizona and is split in two by Tucson.
45:23Eighty-one percent of it became wilderness in 1976.
45:32These bikers are pedaling on the edge of the wilderness.
45:38They are surrounded by the cactus everyone associates with the Old West, with their distinctive arms and towering height.
45:52The plants also play a key role in the area's ecosystem.
46:03Deer, coyotes, and even humans rely on the moist green fruit.
46:10Some birds even nest in the plants to stay safe from predators.
46:17The cacti's iconic status has downsides. Cactus rustlers sell them for up to $500.
46:27Now, the Park Service implants microchip ID tags, like those used in pets, to deter plant poaching.
46:41Arizona is also home to one of the country's many proposed wilderness areas, the Grand Canyon.
46:58It was established as a national park in 1915, but wilderness advocates believe it needs an extra layer of protection.
47:11They're concerned about development around the park.
47:15They also object to noise pollution from motorized tours.
47:20Some local businesses oppose wilderness designation.
47:25They argue limitations will affect tourism and the region's economy.
47:34For now, heated debates continue about one of the nation's most iconic parks.
47:44The country's first national park is also proposed wilderness.
47:58Three million people visit Yellowstone each year to see its geysers and other geothermic displays.
48:10Companies are vying to drill for oil and gas nearby.
48:26But environmentalists believe drilling would damage key wildlife habitats.
48:36Yellowstone is one of the only places in the continental U.S. where all the major predators are still present.
48:51It's also home to thousands of elk and bison, which were nearly extinct in the late 1800s.
49:02Today, Yellowstone contains the largest bison population in the country.
49:09The animals have inhabited this land since prehistoric times.
49:21Now, environmentalists continue to push for wilderness designation in Yellowstone and across the country.
49:36Their work continues the efforts of a small group of people in 1964.
49:44These efforts that now protect more than 100 million acres of land.
49:54Wilderness preserves the country's ancient history and provides resources for a sustainable future.
50:12The nation's wildest places remind us of America's pioneering spirit and its extraordinary leaders.
50:26They tell stories of men who conquered mountains and women who broke the mold.
50:37Most of all, America's wilderness is the people's wilderness.
50:44Protected and preserved for generations to come.