Bureau of Outdoor Recreation: Difference between revisions

In the mid-1970's1970s, the BOR was tasked with surveying various river systems in the state of Alaska, for potential nomination into the National Wild and Scenic Rivers program. The BOR provided oversight to teams that traveled to many river systems across the state, for the purpose of assessing the recreational value of these river systems. Each of these teams took detailed notes of their experiences on the river, noting wildlife observed, fishing opportunities, river mileage, gradient, terrain and vegetation, river hazards and other issues of interest to recreational boaters. In cases where multiple trips were taken to the same river, multiple sets of notes were taken. These notes were compiled into the [http://www.outdoorsdirectory.com/boating/#RiverLogs Alaska River Logs], which are presently hosted on the [http://www.alaskaoutdoorssupersite.com Alaska Outdoors Supersite]. The Alaska River Logs were subsequently compiled into a book, "The Alaska Paddling Guide", co-authored by Jack Mosby and David Dapkus, two BOR employees who were involved in the project. Eventually the following 25 rivers were selected for the National Wild and Scenic program:

The Bureau was onone of the earliest federal agencies to become interested in the concept of converting abandoned railroad lines to trails for walking, bicycling, skiing and other recreational uses. In 1971 it published "Establishing Trails on Rights-of-Way," a booklet that gave the rationale and explained the process for acquiring and developing these facilities; it also provided the public with a lengthy and intriguing list of rail corridors in every state that had been abandoned between 1960 and 1970. In 1977, under the authority of the Railroad Revitalization and Regulatory Reform Act, Congress gave BOR additional resources to further stimulate the creation of trails--thetrails—the Rails-to-Trails Demonstration Grant Program. That program ultimately helped establish nine of the earliest rail-trails, in California, Maryland, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Washington.

inIn 1977 the [[Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service]] (HCRS) was created to enforce the New Heritage Program, and the service absorbed the responsibilities of the BOR. HCRS resulted from the consolidation of over 30 different laws and focused on the identification and protection of the nation's significant natural, cultural, and recreational resources. In 1981 HCRS was abolished as an agency; its responsibilities were transferred to the [[National Park Service]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Russell|first=Carl|title=NATIONAL PARK SERVICE HISTORY|url=http://www.nps.gov/hfc/products/library/npshist.htm|accessdate=8 May 2012}}</ref>