Saving History: Ken Burns and Shenandoah National Park

Legendary film maker Ken Burns has brought the greatest American stories to life on public broadcasting stations for more than 25 years. This fall, he shares the story of the national parks.

Burns' films are often historical narratives but when we caught up with him last week in Staunton, he gave a grim warning about the future of the Shenandoah National Park and others like it.

"Where else in the United States can you be two hours away from Washington D.C. and yet be in the middle of nowhere and hearing almost nothing but a babbling brook and the songbirds?" says Karen Beck-Herzog, Shenandoah National Park spokeswoman.

The park is nature in its purest form.

"Shenandoah is a smaller park. It's intimate," says Burns. "You're basically going along the spine of Skyline Drive. I like that intimacy."

Documentarian Ken Burns tells America's greatest stories from baseball to the Civil War and now, America's treasure, the national parks. It's a story that, for Burns, begins in Virginia years ago