Solving the "Recreation Problem:" The Development of the National Recreation Area
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2016-06
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National Park Service
Abstract
As the National Park Service evolved, recreation became an increasingly important, if not fully stated part of the agency's mission. By the 1930s the NPS was seeking to solve the "recreation problem," or the need to provide recreation facilities to an industrializing nation whose workers enjoyed unprecedented leisure time. Expansion and experimentation resulted in the development of new park typologies, among them the recreation area, which was distinct from previous park types in its lesser "caliber" of scenic value and greater focus on active pursuits. Throughout the 1940s, the recreation area concept expanded as the NPS collaborated with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and Army Corps of Engineers in the creation of reservoir recreation areas. These developments, however, became increasing controversial in the wake of the Echo Park Dam controversy, leading to a four-year review of federal recreation activities by the Outdoor Recreation Resources Review Commission and the subsequent creation of the Bureau of Outdoor Recreation. As a result the National Recreation Area (NRA) was redefined as a general class of federal lands outside the sole purview of the NPS. Today there are forty NRAs of disparate size and character, located in wilderness, rural, and urban areas, and managed by the NPS, the USFS, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFS). Explicating the complicated history of the NRA, using such examples as Lake Mead, Glen Canyon, Chickasaw, and Gateway National Recreation Areas, expands our understanding of the NPS in the post-World War II era beyond the usual "Mission 66" story. An awareness of the historical context for this typology is also important as these resources, congressionally designated after 1963, become eligible for inclusion on the National Register.
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This presentation is published as Hohmann, Heidi, Solving the “Recreation Problem:” The Development of the National Recreation Area. Proceedings of A Century of Design in the Parks: Preserving the Built Environment in National and State Parks. Held in Santa Fe, New Mexico, June 21-23, 2016. Pp: 201-211. ISBN: 9780997044041, https://www.nps.gov/orgs/1207/06-28-2016b.htm