National Parks Traveler

For the first time in its history the National Park Service is going to have a full-time assistant director for American Indian Relations. Gerard Baker, a 30-year Park Service veteran who most recently has been superintendent of Mount Rushmore National Memorial, will take that role on April 24. A full-blood Mandan-Hidatsa Indian, Mr. Baker relishes the opportunity to improve relations between the Park Service and Native American tribes.

Hikers who reach the bottom of the "inner gorge" at Grand Canyon National Park can learn more about the ancient cultures that once lived there thanks to the addition of interpretive panels erected next to ruins near Phantom Ranch.

Seventy-five years is a pretty good show of longevity, and shouldn't be treated lightly. It certainly isn't being overlooked at the Blue Ridge Parkway, where two symposiums are scheduled to celebrate the beautiful ribbon of highway that runs through the Appalachian Mountains.

Manzanar National Historic Site will host the 41st annual Manzanar Pilgrimage on April 24. The pilgrimage, organized by the Los Angeles-based Manzanar Committee, includes weekend activities designed to commemorate the unjust World War II internment of 110,000 Japanese-Americans in ten war relocation camps.