To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Wilderness Act, filmmaker Pete McBride wove tremendous aerial footage of the U.S. backcountry with quotes from his favorite conservation writers, including Edward Abbey, Ralph Waldo Emerson, John Muir, Aldo Leopold, and Wallace Stegner. "Wilderness is not just a luxury," Abbey wrote, "but a necessity of the human spirit."

McBride's film pairs well with any of the great essays Muir wrote for The Atlantic at the turn of the century. I recommend you begin with "The American Forests," which helped spark the conservation movement.