5 Books, 3 Films to Help You Celebrate National Public Lands Day

The Sierra Club put together a list of books and films that celebrate the more than 640 million acres of public lands in America. “They include more than 400 national parks, 560 national wildlife refuges, 154 national forests, and millions more acres managed by the federal government and states. As such, they are a vital part of the country’s landscape, identity, and culture,” writes Sierra magazine editorial fellow Sara Hashemi. Public Lands Day, which falls on September 28 this year, has been celebrated since 1994 to honor and educate people about these lands, their importance, and opportunities to engage with them.

Without further ado, here are five books you can curl up with in honor of our nation’s public lands:

1. Saving Yellowstone: Exploration and Preservation in Reconstruction America by Megan Kate Nelson (Simon and Schuster, 2022)
2. Brave the Wild River: The Untold Story of Two Women Who Mapped the Botany of the Grand Canyon by Melissa L. Sevigny (W.W. Norton, 2023)
3. The Song of Everything: A Poet's Exploration of South Carolina's State Parks by Glenis Redmond (Good Printed Things, 2024)
4. The Melting World: A Journey Across America’s Vanishing Glaciers by Christopher White (St. Martin's Press (MacMillan), 2013)
5. The Unlikely Thru-Hiker: An Appalachian Trail Journey by Derick Lugo (Appalachian Mountain Club, 2019)

If you’re more of a film buff, Sierra Club included a few of those too:

1. Understory: A Journey Through the Tongass (YouTube)
2. This Land (thislanddoc.com)
3. Gladesmen: The Last of the Sawgrass Cowboys (gladesmenfilm.com)