Federal Leaders Launch New One-Stop, Interagency Website for Recreation Reservations
Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne and Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns today demonstrated a one-stop internet site for making reservations and exploring federal recreation lands. They led an event in the nation's capital formally launching a new web site,www.recreation.gov .
This interagency web site allows the public to view photos and information on thousands of recreation sites and activities from sightseeing at the Washington monument to canoeing in a Minnesota forest. The public can also use the recreation.gov site to make reservations and payments online
"Americans love to enjoy our parks, forests, historic sites and other public lands and we want to make it easier for them to do so," said Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne. "At Recreation.gov, Americans can find, plan and reserve their 'place under the stars' on one internet website or with a single phone call."
Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns added, "Recreation.gov not only simplifies reservations, it showcases the many opportunities to enjoy public lands. This is a refreshing change for those who have searched multiple web pages to make their recreation plans and it's an example of better coordination to better serve Americans."
Johanns and Kempthorne were joined by Deputy Director of Civil Works for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Steven Stockton and Deputy Director of Management for the President's Office of Management and Budget Clay Johnson at the launch event at USDA headquarters in Washington, D.C.
Recreation.gov is the result of an interagency partnership composed of the U. S. Department of Agriculture's Forest Service, the Army Corps of Engineers, and the U.S. Department of the Interior's National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Reclamation and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The web site supports the National Recreation Reservation Service, which consolidates the capability to reserve sites managed by these agencies.
Recreation.gov is one of President Bush's Electronic Government initiatives—an extensive plan established in 2002 to help federal government agencies work together to focus on serving citizens and businesses more efficiently and cost effectively by making their information and services easily accessible online.