The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is the Nation's largest federal provider of outdoor recreation, hosting over 370 million visitors a year at 4,300 recreation areas across the nation. Our lakes and parks include: over 100,000 campsites, 2,100 miles of trails, and we host 33 percent of all freshwater lake fishing in the United States.
The Corps provides operation and maintenance (O&M) for this vast recreation network of over 400 lakes in 43 states. Corps NRM staffing for these functions requires a multi-disciplinary resource based approach. Personnel having expertise in areas such as forestry, wildlife management, recreation management, fisheries management, parks management, landscape architecture, biology, soils, science, interpretation, visitor assistance, and contract administration are often needed. Team members include Administrative, Ranger, Facility Management and Maintenance, and District, Division and Headquarters personnel.
In addition to duties performed in-house, O&M contracts cover multiple tasks including park attendants, mowing services, navigation maintenance, construction, major Public Use Area (PUA) renovation, visitor center attendants, etc.
Corps recreation areas also support hundreds of thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in revenue for local communities. More than 500 private concessionaires, with $1 billion in assets, provide support services and facilities, such as marinas, bait shops and grocery stores, at Corps lakes.
- Fast Facts
- Economic Impact Analysis
- Value to the Nation
- NRM Career Advancement
- O&M Contracts
Recreation Program Overview CD
