Campgrounds and visitor centers at federal lakes are closing amid
Trump's budget cuts
[April 28, 2025]
By JOHN HANNA
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Campgrounds, boat ramps and other facilities in at
least 30 locations at federal lakes and reservoirs in six states will be
closed or have their hours curtailed as of mid-May as the Trump
administration tries to rapidly shrink the U.S. government.
Officials at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which oversees the lakes
and reservoirs and their amenities for boating, camping, hiking and
sightseeing, said they are dealing with staffing shortages and other
budgetary restrictions.
Corps spokesman Douglas Garman said concentrating staff at fewer
recreational sites will allow those sites to keep the “full range of
services” that visitors expect.
The Corps' district office in Omaha, Nebraska, which oversees facilities
across a large swath of the Great Plains from western Iowa and Nebraska
to Montana's border with Canada, said the changes also will protect
hydropower and dam operations.
"Decisions to make operational changes at recreation areas are not made
lightly, and we understand those decisions can be disruptive to the
public’s travel plans," Garman said in an email to The Associated Press.
President Donald Trump imposed a federal hiring freeze after beginning
his second term in January, and his Department of Government Efficiency
is trying to eliminate tens of thousands of government jobs.
In Pickstown, South Dakota, residents were “appalled” to learn the Corps
plans to close its visitor center at the Fort Randall Dam and suspend
tours of the dam's powerhouse on May 1, said Cindy Broyhill, the
president of the town’s Board of Trustees.
“”We have a lot of fishing and boating, but we also have a lot of just
plain tourists coming through to see the dam," Broyhill said of
Pickstown, located a little more than a half-mile (0.8 kilometers) east
of the dam on the Missouri River, about 4 miles (6.4 kilometers) north
of the Nebraska state line.
“I think there are other places where they could cut that would make
more sense," she added.
In western Kansas, Sue Graham, manager of Knothead’s bait shop and
camping supply store on the east side of Wilson Lake, was skeptical of a
plan to limit a campsite there to daytime use as of May 15. The lake is
about 230 miles (370 kilometers) west of Kansas City, home to the Corps
district office for parts of Kansas, Missouri and southern Nebraska.
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 Graham doesn't think the move will
save much money because the campsite is used only by residents who
own boat ramps nearby, but Corps officials would “shoot themselves
in the foot” if they went further because of lost fee revenues, she
said, adding that she does not expect her shop to be affected.
“People are still going to come out,” Graham said.
The Kansas City district plans to close visitor information centers
at two Kansas lakes including Hillsdale, outside the Kansas City
area, and Kanopolis, in central Kansas. The Corps will not allow
overnight camping in 25 “primitive,” no-amenities spots in two areas
at Harlan County Lake in western Nebraska near the Kansas state
line. The sites and water nearby still will be accessible during the
day.
Emily Coffin, the district's natural resource section chief, said
the district has pursued efficiency initiatives for five or six
years that will lead to fewer visitor-staff interactions. They
include self-service campsite registrations, cashless parking and
payments through codes scanned with smartphones.
“It just may be a little bit more noticeable because we have more of
that built on than maybe we did two years ago,” she said.
In March, the Corps' Baltimore district closed three campgrounds at
Raystown Lake in central Pennsylvania and a campground, swimming
beach and boat ramp at Cowanesque Lake in northern Pennsylvania.
The Omaha district announced earlier this month that it would close
six campgrounds in the Dakotas on May 1, as well as three visitor
centers in South Dakota and Montana. It also plans to suspend or
limit tours of four South Dakota dam powerhouses and decrease tours
at Fort Peck Dam in northeast Montana.
The Corps district for southeastern Washington state announced last
week it was closing two visitor centers and eight camping and
recreation areas there.
“By concentrating our resources, we can better maintain essential
missions,” Lt. Col. Katie Werbeck, the district's commander, said in
a statement.
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