A Win for US Army Corps Recreation
And a Night Sky Tourism update
After a four year campaign, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), a long-time partner with tourism communities, announced yesterday the recently enacted 2024 Water Resources Development Act included these key policy priorities:
Allows USACE units to retain 80% of recreation fees collected onsite for operation and maintenance and does not require spending approval from headquarters. This puts USACE on par with U.S. Forest Service, NPS and other public lands agencies.
Permits USACE units to enter into cooperative agreements with local private and non-profit organizations.
Authorizes USACE to handle partner-collected fees and return them to the partner jointly managing the recreation facility to reinvest onside.
USACE is one of the leading providers of recreation opportunities on public lands and waters, managing nearly 257,000 facilities across 43 states. USACE lake and river projects attract approximately 268 million recreation visits every year, and the economic impact on these areas is enormous. In Fiscal Year 2021, approximately $12.3 billion was spent by visitors in communities with 30 miles of USACE projects and approximately 120,600 jobs were supported by visitation to USACE lake and river projects.
The recreational facilities at these projects significantly enhance many communities, contribute to their quality of life and those of park visitors, and support state and local governments’ economic development and job creation efforts.
USACE has held a long partnership with tourism communities and these much needed policy changes will assist USACE in addressing its maintenance backlog, managing increased demand for recreation opportunities, and driving positive visitor experiences.
Tourism leaders, take a bow. You made this happen.
With Booking.com predicting night sky tourism to be a major travel driver this year, I am sharing an article from Science Magazine on how on British national park is leveraging dark skies to boost tourism and the environment. The article can be read here.