National Recreation Area

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National Recreation Area (NRA) is a designation for a protected area in the United States, usually centered on large reservoirs and emphasizing water-based recreation for a large number of people. The first National Recreation Area was the Boulder Dam Recreation Area (later renamed Lake Mead National Recreation Area). Early National Recreation Areas were established by interagency memoranda of agreement between the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and the National Park Service. In 1963, the President's Recreation Advisory Committee issued an Executive Branch policy circular that established criteria for establishing National Recreation Areas. The policy circular called for all future National Recreation Areas to be established by acts of the United States Congress. In 1964, Congress made Lake Mead National Recreation Area to first such area to be established by statute.

Areas with this designation are managed by different federal agencies, most of which operate within the Department of the Interior or the Department of Agriculture. Some national recreation areas are under the National Park Service (Interior), some under the Bureau of Land Management (Interior), and others are managed by the U.S. Forest Service (Agriculture).

National Recreation Areas of the United States