The 12-member board advises the Director of the National Park Service (NPS) and the Secretary of the Interior on issues concerning the national parks and programs managed by the NPS, and also makes recommendations concerning national

historic landmarks, national natural landmarks, and proposed national historic trails.

The National Park System Advisory Boards Landmarks Committee has appointed as Chair, Mr. Ron James. As the Nevada State Historic Preservation Officer, he has administered the agency since 1983. He served on the Comstock Historic District Commission for 17 years. In 1991, James organized the Commission for Cultural Affairs and has since administered the distribution of nearly $30 million in grants supporting the rehabilitation of historic buildings to serve as cultural centers. Those facilities now serve over a half million visitors annually.

James is the author of five books and serves as adjunct faculty at the University of Nevada, Reno. He is a historian and folklorist, with degrees in both fields from the University of Nevada, Reno. He was the nation's I.T.T. Fellow to Ireland in 1981-1982, where he studied folklore at the national archives. James's publications have appeared in Europe and North America, and he has given hundreds of presentations throughout the nation. He is a co-founder of the Comstock Archaeology Center and has participated in several excavations in Virginia City, artifacts from which have frequently appeared on national television.

National Historic Landmark nominations are reviewed by the National Park Service Advisory Board's Landmarks Committee. The Committee includes:

• Mr. Ronald M. James (Chair), Historian and Folklorist, Nevada State Historic Preservation Officer
• Dr. James M. Allan, Archeologist, William Self Associates, Inc.
• Dr. Cary Carson, Historian and Former VP, Research Division at Colonial Williamsburg Foundation
• Dr. Darlene Clark Hine, Professor, Department of African American Studies,
  Northwestern University
• Mr. Luis Hoyos, AIA, Assistant Professor, Department of Architecture, California State Polytechnic University
• Dr. Barbara J. Mills, Professor, Department of Anthropology and American Indian Studies, University of Arizona
• Dr. Franklin Odo, Former Director, Asian Pacific American Program, Smithsonian Institution
• Dr. William J. Murtagh, Historian and Former Keeper, National Register of Historic Places
• Dr. William D. Seale, Architectural Historian
• Dr. Michael E. Stevens, Wisconsin State Historic Preservation Officer