Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area is a U.S. national recreation area that encompasses the 130-mile (210 km) long Franklin D. Roosevelt Lake between Grand Coulee Dam and Northport, Washington, in eastern Washington state. The Grand Coulee Dam was built on the Columbia River in 1941 as part of the Columbia River Basin project. Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area is a unit of the National Park Service and provides opportunities for fishing, swimming, canoeing, boating, hunting, camping, and visiting historic Fort Spokane and St. Paul's Mission. Crescent Bay Lake in Grant County just southwest of Lake Roosevelt also falls under the jurisdiction of the National Recreation Area.
Lake Roosevelt atop Coulee Dam
It was established in 1946 as the Coulee Dam Recreational Area and was created by a memorandum of agreement with the Spokane Tribe, Colville Indian Reservation, and United States Bureau of Reclamation. It has, uniquely with Curecanti National Recreation Area, never been established by Congress or the president.[3] The recreation area was renamed for President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1996, over objections from the Colville Tribe.[4][5]
^"Listing of acreage – December 31, 2011" (XLSX). Land Resource Division, National Park Service. Retrieved 2012-12-14. (National Park Service Acreage Reports)
^"NPS Annual Recreation Visits Report". National Park Service. Retrieved 2012-12-14.
^Webb, Dennis (Jan 18, 2021). "Park Service looks to Congress to make recreation area permanent". The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel. Retrieved 2021-12-08.
^"Dam's recreation area will keep its old name". The Spokesman-Review. Associated Press. October 2, 1996. p. B3. Retrieved March 5, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
^Streiffert, Kristi G. (December 8, 1996). "Recreation area gets new name, marks 50th anniversary". The Spokesman-Review. p. G3. Retrieved March 5, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
^Employee, Staff. "Visitor Centers". Visitor Centers - Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area. National Park Service. Retrieved 28 March 2022.
^Oldham, Kit (March 4, 2003). "U.S. Army establishes Fort Spokane at the junction of the Spokane and Columbia rivers in 1882". HistoryLink. Retrieved July 23, 2016.
^Employee, Staff. "Standard Camping". Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area. National Park Service. Retrieved 28 March 2022.
^Employee, Staff. "Boat Camping". Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area. National Park Service. Retrieved 28 March 2022.
^Employee, Staff. "Things To Do". Things To Do - Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area. National Park Service. Retrieved 28 March 2022.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area.
Lake Roosevelt NRA
McKay, Kathryn L.; Renk, Nancy F. (2002). Currents and Undercurrents: An Administrative History of Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area, Washington. U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area.
