John Olmsted -- Park Vision and Creation
Set picture fidelity to 720p, then best viewed in full screen.
This two part lecture on park creation by John D. Olmsted, given to Rangers and Docents at the South Yuba River State Park (SYRSP), California, on October 14, 2009. Among his many conservation accomplishments Olmsted had been the driving force behind conserving the land and historic bridge at Bridgeport, headquarters of SYRSP. This was the first of what was to have been three sessions to cover Olmsted’s conservation philosophy and methods during his 40 years of such efforts. Unfortunately, Olmsted (March 2, 1938 – March 8, 2011) became too ill to complete any recorded lectures beyond this informative introduction.
Video quality is poor to fair because it was decided only at the last moment to record the lecture, and lighting in the small Visitor Center was completely inadequate. Nevertheless, the scope and topics covered here so well represent this exceptional man’s contribution to California’s parks, particularly those near Nevada City where he lived the final years of his fruitful life, that I decided to post the lecture here in two parts. Fortunately, the sound quality is good and Olmsted’s message is clear -- the overall impression in the video presents a good measure of the man. Wikipedia is a good place to start for more information on Olmsted, his vision and his accomplishments: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Olmsted.Part 1
Part 2