Here’s a little, low-profile news item that should probably be getting more coverage. A new Ken Burns documentary series, “The National Parks: America’s Best Idea,” will start playing on PBS late next month. A sneak preview of the series will be shown in Whitefish August 29th and in Missoula on the 30th. Dayton Duncan, a writer and Burns’ long-time collaborator, will host the sneak previews. Burns directed the series; Duncan wrote and co-produced.

According to an AP article making the rounds, the documentary is “about America’s national parks and the people who devoted their lives to preserving them for the public.”

Both of these guys are heavy-hitters. Burns is a well-regarded maker of documentaries, with two Oscar nominations and a handful of Emmys. Duncan is a first-rate writer (his “Out West…” is my favorite) whose interest in American history and the regular folks who move it along nicely complements Burns’ views.

For those of you wanting a quick peek, Amazon has a film trailer online.

For more information, visit the PBS site on the documentary, which has lots of material, including several video excerpts

No word yet on the venue or on whether they are going to show the full, six-hour documentary at the preview. We’ll post more information as it becomes available.