SAVING THE GREAT SWAMP: BATTLE TO DEFEAT THE JETPORT
A film by Scott Morris
2017, 62 minutes
2017, 62 minutes
No. 488
Documentary
Documentary
Description
Saving The Great Swamp: Battle to Defeat the Jetport chronicles the events, people, and politics behind the 1959–1968 struggle to preserve a little-known rural area of New Jersey known as the Great Swamp after the Port of New York Authority announced plans to build a 10,000-acre jetport there that would have obliterated entire towns, destroyed the aquifer and wildlife destroyed, and a threatened a way of life for thousands. What began as a grassroots movement in a local high school grew into one of the most defining environmental confrontations of its time—a battle that took nearly a decade, a President, and an Act of Congress to stop—that ultimately led to the creation of the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge.
Festivals
Winner, Best Documentary, New Jersey Film Festival 2017
Winner, Special Jury Award for Documentary Television, WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival 2017
Official Selection, Princeton Environmental Film Festival 2018
Reviews
"A truly astonishing and entertaining history lesson, and a timeless cautionary tale for anyone concerned about what big business and government can do when nobody's watching." —USA Today Network
