© 2026 Connecticut Public

FCC Public Inspection Files:
WEDH · WEDN · WEDW · WEDY
WEDW-FM · WNPR · WPKT · WRLI-FM
Public Files Contact · ATSC 3.0 FAQ
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Access to this video is a benefit to members

The Empire Of Grandeur (1915-1919)

Season 1 Episode 3 | 1hr 50m 32s

In the early 20th century, America has a dozen national parks, but they are a haphazard patchwork of special places under the supervision of different federal agencies. The conservation movement, after failing to stop the Hetch Hetchy dam, pushes the government to establish one unified agency to oversee all the parks, leading to the establishment of the National Park Service in 1916.

Aired: 04/24/16
Major funding is provided by General Motors, Evelyn & Walter Haas,Jr. Fund, CPB; Bank of America; The Arthur Vining Davis Foundations; Park Foundation, Inc; PBS; National Park Foundation; The Peter Jay Sharp Foundation and the Pew Charitable Trusts.
Extras
Celebrate the life and career of Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Mary Oliver.
Preview: 250 Years of Americana
A Vermont couple finds new ways to better protect their land from drought and floods.
Soybeans may soon be part of the asphalt beneath you.
An Iowa farm thrives as one of the state’s few Black-owned farms.
A Georgia farm keeps the produce coming year-round by planting and harvesting in different locations
See how college students are turning soybeans into new products like baby wipes.
A California farmer shares easy-to-grow mushrooms with giftable box kits.
A Montana rancher honors his ancestors, and Mother Earth, by restoring native grasses to his land.
A Minnesota farm family plants a new kind of wheat that restores the soil and saves water.
Latest Episodes
Learn about the changes to the national parks during the Great Depression and WWII.
Encounter the growing numbers of visitors to the parks.
Examine the proliferation of protected lands and the protection of predatory animals.
Examine the radical idea of creating national parks for the enjoyment of everyone.
Investigate the efforts of Theodore Roosevelt, John Muir and others to protect the land.