Baker retires from National Park Service

RAPID CITY, S.D. (AP) — Former Mount Rushmore National Memorial Superintendent Gerard Baker has retired from the National Park Service, less than three months after he was named assistant Park Service director for Native American relations.

Acting Superintendent Hugh Dougher says Baker retired effective Saturday because of lingering health issues. Baker suffered a stroke last November, returning to his job as Mount Rushmore superintendent in January.

In April, Park Service Director Jon Jarvis named Baker to represent him and the agency with tribes across the country, working on cultural and natural resource issues.

Baker is a member of North Dakota's Mandan and Hidatsa tribes and grew up on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation. He became Mount Rushmore's first American Indian superintendent in 2004.

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