Lake Mead National Recreation Area: A History of America's First National Playground

by Jonathan Foster

Overview

This book examines the creation, characteristics, and tribulations of the first United States National Recreation Area. It also addresses the National Park Service’s historic role in managing reservoir-based recreation in a uniquely arid region.
 
First named the Boulder Dam Recreation Area, this parkland was created in 1936 by a memorandum of agreement between the National Park Service and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. Over the course of its existence, the area has served as a model for a subsequent system of National Recreation Areas. The area’s extreme popularity has, in combination with changing public attitudes regarding preservation and safety, presented the National Park Service with tremendous challenges in recent decades. Jonathan Foster’s examination of these challenges and the responses to them reveal an increasingly anxious relationship between the government, the public, and special interest groups in the American West.
 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780874170054
Publisher:	University of Nevada Press
Publication date:	08/02/2016
Series:	America's National Parks
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	176
File size:	6 MB

About the Author

Jonathan Foster received his PhD in history from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. His research interests include the history of water-based recreation, the Civilian Conservation Corps, and the American conceptualization of place. Foster is currently a professor of history at Great Basin College in Elko, Nevada, where he teaches courses on U.S. history, environmental history, modern Nevada, and history of the American West. He also serves as program supervisor for the Bachelor of Arts in Social Science degree.

 

Table of Contents

Cover Page

Title Page

Copyright Page

Contents

List of Illustrations

List of Abbreviations

Preface

Introduction: Pacesetter in the Desert

One. Transformations: The Middle Colorado River Area to 1900

Two. Reclamation and Recreation: The Creation of the First National Recreation Area

Three. Defining a National Recreation Area, 1936–1966

Four. Balancing Act: Recreation and Modern Challenges at Lake Mead National Recreation Area, 1967–2000

Five. Navigating the Twenty-First Century

Conclusion: Maintaining the Pace?

Bibliography

Index

Editorial Reviews

“Foster has written a well-told story that chronicles the challenges facing managers of public resources, especially a jewel such as Lake Mead. Anyone who cares about how we manage public resources will learn from this book.” —Robert Glennon, author of Unquenchable: America’s Water Crisis and What to Do about It

— Robert Glennon

From the Publisher