Allatoona Lake has been named 2016 U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Natural Resource Project of the Year for consistently fulfilling its many missions. The more than six million visitors who come to the lake for recreation find dozens of fun facilities, including 45 playgrounds, 37 swim beaches, 82 miles of hiking and cycling trails and four fishing docks.

Allatoonas rangers and management work with dozens of partners and volunteers to ensure that the project is an asset to the community, the region and to the Corps.

The projects natural resources program tells the story of Corps rangers and managers who are deeply involved in their community. They invite local families, churches and civic organizations to take advantage of the lakes hundreds of facilities and activities. In turn, local government agencies provide exemplary public safety services, and families pitch in to help with clean up, water safety outreach and many maintenance activities.

Water safety is one the projects primary concerns. The lake partnered with 29 public safety and other agencies whose members volunteered to serve on the Allatoona Lake Water Safety Task Force. Made up primarily of local public safety agencies, the group inaugurated a communications system that allows rangers to reach out directly to public safety officers throughout the region for emergency support. Even when rangers simply report in to the office that its facilities are reaching peak capacity, police and other officers will take that information as a cue to visit the project to ensure safety.

The project also created an engaging, kid-oriented water safety public service program. Knowing how kids like to collect stuff, the projects rangers created a series of Water Safety trading cards. Allatoonas rangers are pictured on the cards, and they hand them out to kids who demonstrate awareness of water safety. Card collectors then vie for prizes donated by the community, including life jackets and tickets to baseball games and museums.

Recreation programs for the projects more than six million visitors have gotten a boost recently. The lake was one of three Corps projects that were showcased at the International Travel Associations annual conference, highlighting Allatoona as a destination to the premier travel industry group in the US. A local fishing group and numerous local businesses partnered with the project to develop a new fishing tournament site at a popular Day Use Area. A Handshake Partnership program is helping to create a professional-grade disc golf course at a recreational area with the support of a number of local disc golf associations.

Environmental programs have improved the value of the Lakes nearly 38,000 acres of land and helped make it a haven for plants and animals in an increasingly urban environment.

The project entered into a Handshake Agreement in 2013 with Georgia Power and Steel Materials Inc. to create new osprey platforms around the lake. Project management recycled atomic-era civil defense cots that were found in an old bomb shelter in the Allatoona Powerhouse to serve as platforms, and partner Steel Materials contributed a rubber coating to protect them from the elements. Osprey families have taken up residence in the new platforms.

Allatoonas fish population gets an annual boost from the local Boy Scouts and other service organizations. These groups partner with the lake to recycle thousands of Christmas trees during winter draw down and create expansive fish habitat for the lakes fisheries. Marietta Bassmasters also planted numerous plants along the shoreline to create aquatic cover for fish and roosting sites for birds. Flowers from the new plants also draw pollinators.

Wildlife Action partnered with the lake to re-establish food plots for wildlife, to attract deer. The Corps rangers and Wildlife Action sponsor organized hunts with the help of Georgia DNR and local volunteers. Organizers also sponsor specialized hunts for disabled veterans and children.

Allatoona rangers launched three projects to help restore native vegetative species that once covered large areas of the southeastern forest but have declined dramatically in the past century.

First, Allatoona rangers worked with The American Chestnut Foundation to participate in its effort to grow blight-resistant American chestnuts. Rangers have dedicated ten acres to serve as a chestnut orchard that will one day provide stock to reestablish the tree in the Eastern forest. A demonstration planting of chestnuts near the Visitors Center helps educate visitors about the significance of the projects work.

Rangers also worked with Georgia DNR and other government agencies and NGOs to manage several hundred acres of long leaf pine that was in decline to the disruption of natural fire cycles. The projects rangers and volunteers from Western Carolina University expanded their environmental efforts to restore and replant 12 acres of native river cane, a grass similar to reed, an often overlooked natural resource that has been almost completely destroyed by agricultural practices.

Volunteers flock to Allatoona to support its mission. Some 3,385 volunteers completed 51,912 hours of service, equal to 25 full time employees or $1.1 milion in value. Volunteers at Allatoona greet guests who come to the Visitor Center; operate the phone system and radio; answer questions about the project; promote water safety; man booths at fairs; maintain bluebird boxes and many other responsibilities. Some volunteers stay in the recently opened ten-site Volunteer Village.

Moviegoers and TV watchers may see their favorite stars performing on Allatoona lands. Commercials for Ford Motor Company and the Jambu Shoe Company were shot on the project and TV series, including "The Red Road" and "Noir", shot episodes there. Movies shot at the lake include "The Nice Guys," "Family Vacation," "Kill the Messenger," "Need for Speed," "The Three Stooges," "96 Minutes" and "Devils Knot." Actors performing in these shows include Michael Keaton, Colin Firth, Reese Witherspoon, Aaron Paul and Jeremy Renner.

When the recently rehabilitated Altoona Powerhouse was damaged by fire in 2014, the lakes managers had to oversee the restoration of the facility. They took the opportunity during restoration to replace the facilitys sixty-year old raw water piping, through a cost saving agreement with the Tennessee Valley Authority. Allatoona staff is still working to get the Powerhouse generators back on line and expect it to be producing power in the near future.

With all the activity at Allatoona, it is no wonder that the lake is a powerful economic generator. The projects six million visitors to the project spend more than $186 million dollars, creating almost 1,300 jobs within 30 miles of the lake.

For so thoroughly fulfilling its many missions, Allatoona certainly deserves the 2016 Project of the Year award.