At a Glance

With the heavy recreational use of Corps projects, visitors encounter each other on a frequent basis. Corps of Engineers water resource development projects nurture over 20 percent of all federally provided recreation opportunities on only 2 percent of federally managed lands and waters, most of which are located within 50 miles of a major metropolitan area.

These encounters with other recreationists may be a valued part of the recreation experience for some people. For others it may reduce the quality of their recreation experience and even lead to conflicts due to a sense of crowding and congestion. Overuse and overcrowding can harm the environmental resources as well.

Corps of Engineers resource managers have used various processes to estimate the maximum capacity of recreation facilities and resources over the years. These estimations are used to balance the need of visitors to enjoy natural resources with the Corps' need to sustain high quality recreation opportunities for present and future generations.

Managers have implemented a variety of techniques based on this capacity analysis. For example, several Corps lakes tightly control public hunting via permit systems. This is done for many reasons including wildlife resource capacity and visitor capacity as it relates to public safety and user enjoyment.

The IInteragency Visitor Management Council was established in 2011, and the modern term "visitor capacity" is now the accepted terminology among federal agencies.

Overcrowding and overuse of water-based resources is a primary a concern for Corps projects. Corps research on capacity issues generally relates to boating use and is used to define and support limits on the numbers of boat docks and slips permitted on lakes through implementation of shoreline management plans.