American Values, American Wilderness

Narrated by the late Christopher Reeve, this is an eloquent, heartfelt tribute to America's enduring wilderness areas, those "vast, yet intimate" lands where Mother Nature is free to express herself with a minimum of interference from humankind. Actually, all but a few states still have such areas: in 1964, President Lyndon Johnson secured bipartisan support for a landmark wilderness conservation law, with an eye toward future generations. In Christopher Barns' American Values, American Wilderness, interviewees talk about their love of nature (often passed down to them as children) and annual trips to the wild for spiritual renewal or to remove the mental clutter that comes, as the poet William Wordsworth wrote, when "the world is too much with us." Of particular note, YA author Jean Craighead George describes how wilderness trips inspired her classic books Julie of the Wolves and My Side of the Mountain. While the documentary steers clear of political controversies, it also forcefully disputes advocates of aggressive land use—and with 105 million acres of deserts, forests, swamps, and lakes at issue, the stakes for future generations are huge. Recommended. Aud: H, C, P. (S. Rees)