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Show Reclamation areas set record for recreation use More people are having fun-fishing, Ming, camping--on the Bureau of Reclamation's 281 recreation areas fa ever before. Commissioner R. Keith HigginSon says Reclamation projects reported a word 6.69 million visitor-days during ite 1978 calendar year, a jump of 4.6 million more than the previous year and one of the largest increases in 20 years. "The recreational opportunities- including catching a world's record Brown Trout-on Reclamation reser-wirs reser-wirs are among. the best in, the West,." . Higginson said. "And the enjoyment gained Irom well-managed rivers below Reclamation projects, although not included in the statistics, is huge." Higginson defined a visitor-day as a significant amount of time spent by one individual in a particular recreation activity during a 24-hour period. After all the 1978 records were tabulated, he said, they showed that recreational use of Reclamation facilities has climbed 279 percent since 1958, when Bureau projects recorded 19.3 million visitor-days visitor-days on 163 areas. Sightseeing was the most popular activity, amounting to 31 percent of the 1978 total, he said. That would include . iun r ri i : Flaming Gorge, and Reclamation's other dams. "But fishing, as for one of the huge Brown Trout lurking in Utah's Flaming Gorge Reservoir, also is very popular," he said. Fishing accounted for 16.3 percent of the visitor -days, and camping cam-ping was a close third with 15.2 percent. Other popular activities include picnicking, boating, swimming, water skiing, and hunting. These areas comprise 12.350 miles of shoreline and offer a wide variety of facilities, including 620 campgrounds, 680 boat ramps, 960 picnic areas, and numerous swimming beaches, tent and trailer spaces, parking areas, and boat docks. Lake Mead National Recreation, area, including Hoover Dam, was the most popular area, with 7.5 million visitor-days, followed by Jackson Reservoir in the heart of Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming, with 3.8 million visitor-days. New investment to recreation facilities totaled $16.1 million. Although the Bureau invested $5.3 million, agencies administering Reclamation lands and waters have contributed $8.5 million, concessionaires have invested $2.3 million. A total of 236 areas are administered by other Federal, State and local agencies, such as the National Park Service, the U.S. Forest Service, State and county government, and others. |
