Large or small, every city, town or village on the map of America believes it has targets that could be a bull's-eye for a terrorist attack.

In response, local officials and emergency management experts are taking worried looks at symbols of economic renown and civic pride, major sporting events that draw immense crowds, bridges, dams, nuclear power plants, state capitol buildings and city halls.

Suddenly, symbols are being seen as possible risks, from the Seattle Space Needle to the St. Louis Arch; from the Beaverton, Ore., headquarters of Nike Inc., to the Sears Tower in Chicago, to the Daytona Beach International Speedway where as many as 300,000 spectators at a time gather for auto races.

"Every small town should be thinking: What is our town famous for? That could be a target," said John Buckman, president of the International Association of Fire Chiefs. "Fire departments have to become more aggressive in informing and educating people about potential neighborhood targets, which could be any highly visible and well-known buildings or anything that stands for the American way of life."

Consider one obvious set of landmarks: The government closed down the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island in New York Harbor on Sept. 11. Brian Feeney, a National Park Service spokesman, said a thorough review of security precautions would be done before the tourist attractions reopen.

Also vulnerable are major events, such as football's Super Bowl, scheduled for New Orleans in February. In fact, all major sporting events, including college bowl games, certainly will take place under increased security.

But hijacked airliners and high-tech weapons are not the only threats. There is still the ugly memory of Oklahoma City and a truck loaded with a powerfully explosive mix of fuel oil and fertilizer that took down the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in 1995.

With Attorney General John Ashcroft now calling terrorism "a clear and present danger," the Justice Department has directed every U.S. Attorney's office across the country to set up a task force on terrorism. These panels will work with local officials, emergency planners and police and fire departments to identify potential targets of attack and to make plans to protect them, said Mindy Tucker, an Ashcroft spokesperson.

"We just had a meeting with those task force folks," said W. Bryce Hill, the police and fire commissioner of Bismarck, N.D., which has several prominent features -- including, Hill said, the 17-story state capitol, North Dakota's tallest structure, and the Garrison Dam on the Missouri River.

"If the dam were blown up, the southern half of the city would be under water," Hill said. The dam, built in the 1950s, "holds back water that goes all the way back to the Montana border, millions of acre-feet of water."

Bismarck, Hill added, is only 100 miles from Minot Air Force Base, which has nuclear weapons, Strategic Air Command bombers and Minuteman missile silos.

"In the plains area we're a primary target, but we are prepared," Hill said. "Most of our people recognize the potential and we're trying to find solutions to be sure all the people in our community are safe."

Here is a sampling of how officials across the country are getting ready:

-- Little Rock, Ark.: "Some of our hazards are the state capitol and the federal court buildings," said emergency management administrator Kenny Shaw. "We've got Razorback football games and a large arena for concerts, and the War Memorial Stadium that holds 30,000 people."

But the worst nightmare scenario, Shaw said, involves an attack on the Pine Bluff Arsenal just down the road, where the U.S. Army has stored a large supply of nerve and mustard gas scheduled for eventual incineration. "We're within exposure range if something happens there," Shaw said. "It's a major concern for us."

-- Show Low, Ariz.: The town has no large buildings, but Mayor Gerry Whipple said city police are maintaining an around-the-clock check on the water supply system. Disaster could come, Whipple said, in the form of fire in the Coconino National Forest that surrounds Show Low.

-- Seattle: At the 605-foot-tall Space Needle, "We've increased manpower in security -- more people, more shifts. We are a visual icon for the city of Seattle and we take the risk seriously," said Dean Wilson, president and CEO of the corporation that operates the landmark.

-- Carlisle, Pa.: A town of 50,000 about a two-hour drive from Washington, this is the home of the U.S. Army War College, a major local concern now, said Mayor Kirk Wilson. He added that the city is unprepared to cope with the consequences of a chemical or biological attack. "We need to be provided the materials, like a suit of clothing or respiratory equipment."

-- Hayward, Calif.: Nestled at the edge of Silicon Valley, its biggest potential target is the nine-mile-long San Mateo Bridge, said City Councilman Olden Henson. "The Golden Gate and the Bay Bridge are more high-profile, but this is one of the highest-capacity bridges in the area," Henson said.

Henson hopes the White House will reconsider past decisions that closed Moffett Naval Air Station, the Alameda Naval Air Station, the Presidio, the Oakland Army Depot and other area military facilities in recent years, "because closing them left us very vulnerable."

-- Cleveland: "We've got our city hall and the federal building where thousands of people work, our two airports, our stadiums, our waterworks, and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame," said City Councilman Roosevelt Coats. "I am really sometimes appalled about the waterworks and how to begin to protect the water."

-- Oklahoma City: The Murrah building is gone, thanks to Timothy McVeigh's truck bomb. A replacement building is planned, but the concrete has not yet been poured. Tinker Air Force Base sits five miles from the city center. Other possible targets could be the State Fair; the International Rodeo Finals, which draw contestants from 33 states and thousands of fans; a new baseball park; a 20,000-seat arena under construction; and the city's convention center. "On any given night we could have 30,000 people in downtown," said City Council member Ann Simank.

-- Hialeah Gardens, Fla.: Police Chief Keith Joy is nervous about toxic chemicals transported through the town from a plant in neighboring Medley. Joy said he would discuss the danger at a meeting next week of 32 police chiefs in the Miami-Dade County area.

-- Los Angeles: Police have increased patrols and protective surveillance around movie studios, public buildings, churches, synagogues and mosques, said Julie Wong, spokesperson for Mayor James Hahn. "We hope we're not going to be a target, but we are doing everything we can to prepare," Wong said.

-- Keystone, S.D.: "We are very concerned about security at Mount Rushmore, and always have been, not just during the recent attacks," said Chief Park Ranger Mike Pflaum. The massive memorial "is a world-recognized symbol of our nation, and as such is a potential site for someone to draw attention to themselves or to a cause or to a purpose. We have been in close contact with the FBI since the attacks occurred."

-- Kettering, Ohio: This Dayton suburb looks over its shoulder at the sprawling Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and the U.S. Air Force Museum, which was closed down for the week after the Sept. 11 terror attacks. The museum's Annex Hangars have not reopened.

-- Daytona Beach, Fla.: The home of the Daytona Beach International Speedway, where 10-day racing events take place several times a year, Daytona Beach draws hundreds of thousands of fans at a time within the track confines. "We've stepped up security activities and coordination with local and state authorities about the possibility of a major catastrophe," said speedway Security Chief John Powers.

-- Portland, Maine: "We are probably the largest oil delivery port of the Eastern Seaboard," said City Councilman Phillip John Dawson. "If they swooped in and hit our tank farm, it would be terrible and it would disrupt the flow of oil all over the eastern United States and Canada." Another worry is the movement of the world's largest cruise ships through the city's harbor, Dawson said.

-- East Point, Ga.: "We have the Atlanta-Hartsfield International Airport at one end of town and Fort McPherson, the national headquarters for U.S. Army ground troops, at the other end of town," said City Councilman Threet Brown. "So we've got our police and fire departments working continuous 12-hour shifts. We are very alert."

-- Everett, Wash.: "I hope we're not on anybody's target list but none of us know that," said Frank Anderson, head of the city's public safety commission. "We're the home port for an aircraft carrier, the Abraham Lincoln, and its support ships, and Boeing has the largest aircraft assembly plant in the world here. And our city hall is 10 stories high."

Anderson probably spoke for others in adding: "I hope nobody takes the stance that an attack here would be far-fetched. We're getting serious about it."

(Miles Benson can be contacted at miles.benson@newhouse.com. Jose Alfredo Flores can be contacted at jose.flores@newhouse.com)