YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK

MIHALIC, DAVID Yosemite Manager-Cherokee Indian: Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt is making a special trip to Yosemite to announce he is replacing National Park Service veteran Stanley Albright, 68, as the park's superintendent. In his place, Babbitt is expected to name David Mihalic, 53, an American Indian who is currently superintendent of Glacier National Park in Montana. In an interview yesterday, Babbitt said he "pleads guilty to an intense personal interest in Yosemite and to getting the general management plan under way on my watch." Like other Clinton administration officers, Babbitt will be out of office by January 2001. Mihalic is considered a rising star in the park service. He had been picked for special executive training and in the past six months has been on leave, from his Glacier job to be resources adviser to Montana Gov. Mark Racicot. Mihalic is also a member of the Cherokee Indian tribe and is the highest ranking American Indian in the park service.