Watch Friday, August 22, 2014 at 7pm on WORLD.
WILDERNESS: THE GREAT DEBATE features Robert Redford in a rare, eloquent interview. The scope of the film ranges from the Arctic to the Amazon, with a focus on environmental issues of the American West — Ground Zero for this story.
The film features some of the issue’s biggest stars: Robert Redford, Page Stegner, President Obama’s Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar, President Clinton’s Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt, President Kennedy’s Secretary of the Interior Stewart Udall, William Meadows from The Wilderness Society and cameo appearances from President Obama, President Clinton, former Vice President Al Gore, Wallace Stegner and former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor.
Other segments include the Native-American perspective, the wilderness of Yellowstone and the reintroduction of wolves, the plight of wild horses in the West, the controversy over the creation of the Grand Staircase National Monument by President Clinton, and water issues of the Colorado River, which runs dry in the sands of Mexico.
The film also follows the case of environmental activist Tim DeChristopher, who falsely bid on oil and gas leases approved by the Bush administration. It includes journalistic balance, with protesters adamantly opposed to more wilderness.
