A partnership between a famous documentary filmmaker like Ken Burns and the outdoor industry might seem like a mismatch.
But after Burns spoke at Thursday's Outdoor Industry Breakfast at the Downtown Marriott in Salt Lake City, kicking off the annual Outdoor Retailer Winter Market at the Salt Palace, the merger of historian and industry made perfect sense.
Burns, who earned critical acclaim for documentaries about the Civil War, baseball and jazz, recently completed a 12-hour, six-part series that he described as his best work, "The National Parks: America's Best Idea," which will air on PBS stations in September.
Working with the outdoor industry, he helped produce a kit to help retailers promote not only the documentary but the idea of getting more people, especially the young, outdoors. The kit encourages retailers to co-host special outdoor events in September, sponsor park of the month nights, host a park lecture series, promote local outdoor or nature clubs, sponsor photo and essay contests, or host family camp-outs.
Burns said such efforts are especially appropriate in difficult economic times.
"It's paradoxical but in the toughest times of the Great Depression, the national parks thrived as never before," he said. "We fell back on resources we didn't know we needed."
Mike Wallenfels, who heads the Outdoor Industry Association Board, said the industry is surprisingly healthy as families seek low-cost ways to recreate and spend time together.
While the amount of square feet occupied by this year's winter outdoor retailer show is down five percent from a year ago and the number of exhibitors is down almost 100, about the same number of people -- around 17,000 -- are expected to attend. Wallenfels said those numbers are better than what many other national trade shows are drawing.
Burns came to Salt Lake City from the inauguration of Barack Obama, an event he said meant more to him than anything he can remember since the birth of his daughters. He views Obama's election as important because it could restore an activist government and cited the work of the Civilian Conservation Corps during the Great Depression.
"They were building things but they were also building human happiness," he said. "The heart of the message is an effort to build human happiness and the role parks play in tough times. There are remarkable opportunities."
In an interview prior to the show, Burns said national parks managers must deal with the paradox of the agency's mission -- provide access to citizens while preserving the land for future generations. That's the heart of the story he is trying to tell in his new series.
"Parks represent the best of us," he said. "That kinship permits us to have a very reasonable discussion about issues that tend to make us angry and passionate today."
He said the value of historical documentaries is providing perspective: debates about park issues are not new.
John Muir complaining about Model Ts being allowed in Yosemite National Park isn't much different than the debate over how many, if any, snowmobiles should be allowed in Yellowstone today, Burns said.
When asked to name his favorites in the national park system, Burns mentioned Yosemite and Denali in Alaska. Anyone who is not moved when seeing the Grand Canyon, he added, will likely not be moved by Judgment Day.
