Perceived Visitor Ethnicity Trends

When did major ethnic groups first appear on Corps projects?

Approximately 73 percent of 456 Corps projects that offer public recreation opportunity were constructed before 1970 and approximately 90 percent were constructed prior to 1980. Therefore, much of the public recreation infrastructure and associated recreation opportunity offered at Corps projects has been available for several decades.

The number of survey respondents who were able to estimate the approximate period of time in which different ethnic groups first began to use their project varied in regard to Native American (n=67), Asian (n=105), Hispanic (n=136) and African American (n=143) visitors. Most of those who did not respond to this question either did not receive recreation use by these visitors, or more commonly, could not estimate with reasonable certainty the approximate period of time in which their project began receiving recreation visits by the specified ethnic groups. A summary of respondents who were able to estimate the period of time in which different ethnic groups began using Corps projects for recreation are shown in the table below and in this map sequence.

• Estimated Dates When Ethnic Groups Began Using Corps Projects For Recreation
• Appearance of Native American Recreation Visitors
• Appearance of Asian American Recreation Visitors
• Appearance of African American Recreation Visitors
• Appearance of Hispanic American Recreation Visitors

Based on survey responses, most projects began receiving African American and Native American visitors prior to 1980. In actuality, most of these projects probably began to receive African American and Native American visitors from the surrounding area soon after they became operational. Prior to 1980, however, few projects were used by Asian or Hispanic visitors.

Asian visitors first developed a visible presence on Corps projects in the 1980's and by the year 2001 were a visible part of the ethnic recreation mix on projects managed by 83 percent of survey respondents. We believe that the appearance of Asian visitors on at least some Corps projects in the 1980's and beyond is associated with refugees from Southeast Asia who escaped the conflict and political instability of the region that peaked in the 1970's and continued for many years thereafter. Southeast Asian refugees, sponsored by local churches and civic organizations, settled in communities throughout the nation. Several managers noting Asian visitors could trace the appearance of ethnic Asians on their projects to refugees who settled in nearby communities. The appearance of Asian visitors on Corps projects in the 1980's and 1990's is consistent with demographic trends observed in the changing distribution of Asians observable in Asian population data.

While Hispanics are traditional visitors to projects in the Southwestern United States, they were not a visible part of the ethnic recreation mix elsewhere in the country until the 1990's. By 2001 ethnic Hispanics were present on projects managed by 88 percent of survey respondents. As with Asian visitors, the emergence of Hispanic visitors as a visible part of the ethnic mix on a great many Corps projects parallels changes in the Hispanic population, most notably population changes observable between 1990 and 2000 in Hispanic population data, which show both rapid population growth and widespread immigration into counties where they were not previously present.