Recreation Use Fees: Policy & Procedures

Policy & Procedures

ER 1130-2-555 - Recreation Use Fees

Implementation Guidance is coming soon. For now, the following EC and SOP are prevailing guidance. Contact Jason Owen or Rachel Rush for guidance if conflicts are found.

Pre-publication EC 1130-2-550, Chapter 9

USACE Recreation Use Fee Standard Operating Procedure (RUFSOP)

Guide to Implementation EC 1130-2-550, Chapter 9

Guide to Implementation - This guide contains implementation information regarding the full implementation of EC 1130-2-550, Chapter 9 on January 1, 2016 and also provides info on the implementation of the USACE Recreation Use Fee Standard Operation Procedure (RUFSOP).
October 2015 Webinar Presentation - This is a pdf of the power point presentation from the October 2015 Webinars
Passes (AtB, Golden Age, and USACE Annual Pass) Summary Table

Engineer Regulations

ER 37-1-30, dated 12/12/19
Financial Administration - Accounting and Reporting

Policy Memos

EC 1130-2-550 Release for Implementation, dated 9/2/15
Fee Setting for the National Recreation Reservation Service, dated 16 Oct 1997
Fees charges at Leased Recreation sites, dated 10/15/93

Memos

09/05/25 Digital ATB Pass - Upcoming September Trainings
As promised, here are the upcoming training sessions for Digital America the Beautiful Passes. Please pass this along to all your projects, regardless of their recreation.gov use. If they have a fee program, they will need this information.

There are 3 different links below with multiple dates for 3 different offerings. The first round is just a general overview of changes, and will provide basic information for all field staff. The next 2 rounds will depend on how the project uses rec.gov to sell and validate passes. Most of us will likely need to attend the rec.gov user sessions at 11-12 ET. The non rec.gov user sessions will be more focused on NPS since they use a completely different system to sell passes in person, BUT projects that use Ventek tablets to sell passes might get some useful information.

Information Session – 30 minute overview session
Audience: Recreation.gov Users, Non-Recreation.gov Users
Multiple Sessions (pick one):
September 9, 2025, 5-5:30pm ET
September 12, 2025, 1-1:30pm ET
September 17, 2025, 1-1:30pm ET

Meeting Link Sign-up: See calendar for details

Educational Session – 60 minute session focused on detailed process explanation (will not offer agency-specific operations)
Audience: Recreation.gov Users
Multiple Sessions (pick one):
September 22, 2025, 11am-12pm ET
September 24, 2025, 11am-12pm ET
September 26, 2025, 11am-12pm ET
September 29, 2025, 11am-12pm ET

Meeting Link Sign-up: See calendar for details

Educational Session – 60 minute session focused on detailed process explanation (will not offer agency-specific operations)
Audience: Non-Recreation.gov Users
Multiple Sessions (pick one):
September 22, 2025, 1-2pm ET
September 24, 2025, 1-2pm ET
September 26, 2025, 1-2pm ET
September 29, 2025, 1-2pm ET

Meeting Link Sign-up: See calendar for details

Additional trainings and office hours will be offered starting Oct. 1, 2025 – more info to come.
09/02/25 Digital America the Beautiful Passes Coming Soon!
As required by law in the Expanding Public Lands Outdoor Recreation Experiences Act or "EXPLORE Act", the Interagency Pass Program (IAP) led by the National Park Service is expanding its current scope to enable visitors to purchase, store, and use digital America the Beautiful-the National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Passes. The IAP has engaged Recreation.gov, the federal government's centralized reservation platform, to provide an integrated digital interagency pass solution that enables users to easily purchase, manage, and use a pass to visit federal recreational lands, and offer agency staff a streamlined way to manage and administer passes.

Beginning with a pilot on October 1, 2025, Recreation.gov will welcome customers to purchase digital America the Beautiful Annual Passes through the website, call center, mobile application, and in person via field sales. We must prepare to encounter digital Interagency Annual Passes from visitors where a standard amenity day-use fee is charged starting in October. Additional passes from the suite of America the Beautiful passes will be made available for issue/purchase as digital passes through Recreation.gov on January 1, 2026.

This digital advancement will require compliance by all USACE staff, contractors, and volunteers managing our recreation areas. We must ensure the America the Beautiful pass visitors can access federal lands with ease via new digital interagency passes. Field staff will receive training guidance and instruction to understand process changes and confidently incorporate digital interagency passes into management routines.

As it is released, all information related to the Digital Pass program will be stored centrally on the NRM gateway here: htt ps://corpslakes.erdc.dren.mil/employees/usefees/digitalpass.cfm
At this time, all information posted on the NRM Gateway should be considered for Internal Use Only. A coordinated communication and outreach plan is being prepared at the interagency level for public release at a later date.

An FAQ document has recently been added that will address many of your current questions, but please understand that the program is evolving every day, and some information may change.

The POC for this matter is Jason Owen, the USACE R1S Program Manager. Jason is working closely with each District's R1S and Recreation Fee POC to ensure projects are prepared for this change. Please reach out to him if you have questions.

Thanks for your attention to this matter and for all you do for the USACE Recreation Program

Ryan Hartwig
National Recreation Program Manager
01/16/25 News Release - USACE waives day use at recreation areas in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day