National Park Service

SINCE ITS DEDICATION in 1982, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial has brought millions of visitors to The Mall in Washington to look for names, remember loved ones and reach a peaceful understanding of a traumatic chapter in national life. Controversially simple and unassuming when unveiled, the two polished black granite walls, bearing 58,226 names of U.S. service men and women who gave their lives in the Vietnam War, is one of the most solemn and successful memorials ever designed. The monument, not to the war but to those called upon by their nation to fight it, has helped to heal the wounds and scars from that war. It was a triumph for Jan C. Scruggs, the Vietnam War veteran who crusaded to have it built.

This country's national parks remain hallowed ground for most Americans, even as the number of sites managed by the National Park Service has soared to nearly 370.From the initial effort to preserve the unique majesty of Yellowstone 125 years ago, the national parks system has mushroomed to include seashores and highways, historic houses and memorials, the White House, battlefields and cemeteries.It's a vast empire of 80 million acres, with a $1.6 billion budget that is still inadequate to fund needed upkeep and new additions.

In 1853, the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association of the Union launched a successful campaign to save the Virginia home and burial ground of George Washington from development.The effort is generally acknowledged as the beginning of the historic preservation movement in America.To the early preservationists, the only history worth saving was a building that was a "national treasure" and would stand as a monument to an American hero."In the early years, preservation reflected only the oldest and the best," said Mark Edwards, chief programs administrator for the Maryland Historical Trust.

We will be taking a six-week vacation out West by car. We have a few ideas on things to see, but the sheer volume is overwhelming.We know about Yellowstone and the Grand Canyon, but the rest is hard to nail down. I also want to see major city attractions.You can't possibly see everything in the West on one trip, even a six-week trip. Make a list of all the places you most want to visit. Add the places you want to see if there's time.Mark the must-sees on a big map, then connect them in a continuous route, using interstate highways when possible.

WASHINGTON -- Organizers of Sunday's massive rally for gay and lesbian rights called on the White House yesterday to order a recount of the march, charging that the U.S. Park Police deliberately underestimated the number of protesters.Planners had hoped for a million marchers, but the park police announced late Sunday that just 300,000 people participated in the rally.Torie Osborn, executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, called the crowd estimate an insult and charged that it was the result of homophobia.

Say "Delaware" to your average American, and you'll probably elicit either a blank stare or an outburst of grumbling about tollbooths and speed traps. But you can be certain no one will say anything about the state's national parks. That's because Delaware doesn't have any. The nation's first state is also the nation's only state without a single site administered by the National Park Service - no national historic sites, parks, preserves, recreation areas, seashores, battlefields, monuments, trails or even memorials.

GETTYSBURG, Pa. -- Newly announced plans by the National Park Service to create a national Civil War museum likely doom a similar but foundering project proposed last year for Hagerstown.Although both projects are similar in scope, the National Park Service already has a 40-acre site for its proposed museum -- which would focus on the entire four-year conflict and not just a battle or two -- and is working with a nonprofit group to raise money.Meanwhile, the Hagerstown project has fizzled.

YORKTOWN, Va. -- The National Park Service is trying to raise $400,000 to repair tents that were used by George Washington as he planned some of the key battles of the Revolutionary War. Two of the tents were removed from display at the Park Service's visitor center at the Yorktown battlefield in 1997 because of damage. A faulty air system deposited a film of oily dirt, and a leak in climate control equipment left a large water stain. Fluctuations in humidity have weakened the 200-year-old fabric, causing it to sag. "We can't put them back on display the way they were.

DELAWARE WATER GAP, Pa. -- There's a remarkable new building in the federal park in Pennsylvania: a two-hole outhouse, without running water, that cost the National Park Service at least $333,000.It's nestled amid evergreens, with a gabled slate roof, cottage-style porches, and a handsomely tapered cobblestone masonry foundation in the manner of Frank Lloyd Wright. A medley of wildflowers hides any sign of new construction.Inside each spacious restroom, a green horizontal stripe at baseboard level plays off the green of hemlocks visible through discreetly placed picture windows.

A friend called to report that the Nobska, the venerable New England coastal steamer that for a time was an Inner Harbor restaurant during the 1970s, was broken up last month at the old Charlestown Navy Yard in Boston. The ship's scrapping marked an end to the more than 30-year preservation effort of the New England Steamship Foundation - originally founded in 1975 as the Friends of the Nobska - to save the historic ship. For 48 years, the classic white-and-black vessel with its straight bows, tall buff-colored funnel and ear-piercing steam whistle, steamed back and forth across Nantucket Sound, transporting freight, automobiles and generations of vacation-bound passengers to Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard from the mainland.