Years before Ansel Adams shot his iconic photos, there was Pathe News’ Ralph Earle who brought motion picture images of the scenic beauty found on public lands to the eyes of the public on a large scale. In the mid-1910s, Pathe had sent Earle and his wife on a 10,000 mile drive around the western states visiting national parks and forests in order to film them for Pathe’s “See America First” feature that was shown in thousands of theatres across the country.

The resulting films, well Earle was not required to pay for a permit to be able to film them…

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