Modernization Overview

Since the 1960’s, each successive modernization of our visitation estimation and reporting process has incorporated new features and requirements needed to meet the changing needs of the Corps recreation business line. The next generation of the currently-used Visitation Estimation and Reporting System (VERS) will continue this evolution along two fronts. First, it will estimate and report visitation separately for different categories of managing agency (CE, concessions, Federal non-Corps, State gov, Local gov, and Quasi-public entities). Second, it will employ a new approach to estimating fee camping visitation, incorporating business data from CEFMS and the NRRS.

The newest modernization effort will also build on groundwork laid by VERS in the early 1990’s to increase consistency of visitation estimates across projects, by improving the level of standardization and transparency in the application of procedures used for visitation use estimation and reporting. While new field surveys are certainly needed to update load-factors that have changed over time, improvements in basic procedures and processes, such as better alignment of traffic meter locations with best practices, automated tools for survey planning and implementation, and more rigorous methods of assigning load-factors to recreation areas that will not be surveyed, will likely have a greater impact on achieving more consistent visitation estimates then will the updated load-factors produced from a new round of surveys.