3: Recreation
Provide recreation opportunities for America Other Information:
The Department's recreation responsibility began with Yellowstone, set aside in 1872 to serve as a pleasuring-ground for the
benefit and enjoyment of the people.” Today, that recreation responsibility is shared by the Bureau of Land Management, Fish
and Wildlife Service, National Park Service, and Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) operating under the principal mandates of the
Federal Land Policy and Management Act, the Refuge Recreation Act, the National Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act, and
the National Park Service Organic Act. Recreational opportunities also abound on Indian lands. Americans come to their national
parks, refuges, and public lands for many reasons: to renew their sense of self, to experience adventure or relaxation, and
to sample the rich diversity of our landscape and culture on water or land, at sea level or thousands of feet above, in scuba
gear, on mountain bikes, or with a camera, while hunting, fishing, camping, hiking, boating, white water rafting, or birding.
Interior's recreation destinations are among the Nation's most popular sites. Annually, the 390-unit National Park System
accommodates some 271 million visitors. Another 72 million people visit our National Wildlife Refuge System, with 545 units
spanning 94 million acres. An additional 56 million people visit the 262 million acres of public lands supervised by our Bureau
of Land Management, while some 90 million visitors enjoy Bureau of Reclamation's 308 sites. Developed by the Department of
the Interior as part of an interagency collaboration, www.recreation.gov makes it easy for people to identify recreation opportunities
regardless of whether they are managed at the Federal, State, or local level.
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