Tulsa District ranger fills in gaps between stakeholders and USACE

Photo By Stacey Reese | Broken Bow Lake Natural Resource Specialist Adam Miller takes time during a busy weekend to educate the public on water safety while patrolling the parks. Visitation at the project reached 2.3 million in 2021, making water safety an extremely important mission for the project.  

BROKEN BOW , OK, UNITED STATES

08.31.2022

Story by Stacey Reese 

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Tulsa District

Broken Bow, Okla. – Authorized by the Flood Control Act of 1958 and built and designed under the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Broken Bow Lake in Southeastern Oklahoma is not your traditional USACE project.
While Tulsa District manages flood control, water supply, and hydropower at this project, recreation is managed through the State of Oklahoma. Throw in fish and wildlife management overseen by The Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation and the dynamic of multiple missions being managed by more than one agency become complex to say the least. Adam Miller, the only Tulsa District natural resource specialist stationed at Broken Bow Lake has developed a rapport with stakeholders and the community enhancing the experience of visitors to the park.
“Broken Bow and the Hochatown area are booming and with that comes lots of growing pains,” said Miller. “The biggest challenge is managing our interests while working with stakeholders. We have leases and subleases in multiple areas. I’m working to ensure everyone follows our regulations and things are done in the best interest of our missions.”
This creates a different, complex environment. Tulsa District doesn’t manage all of the missions as is customary at lake projects. This project involves keeping up with the massive visitation numbers, working with personnel from Beavers Bend State Park, ODWC, Oklahoma Highway Patrol and the Forest Service as well as stakeholders with a financial interest in the ever-growing tourism connected to the area.
“Having Adam office with us at the state park is instrumental in our ability to run the park smoothly,” said Aron Maib, Beavers Bend State Park manager 5. “It is such a benefit to have him here when something comes up with a project or concessionaires. Having him involved in the projects from day one has been great. It has absolutely been an asset to have him as another set of eyes in the park. He understands the Corps policies and regulations as well as the policies for the state parks. He can see issues and help correct them in a timely when they are found.”
In the five years since Miller started working at Broken Bow Lake, visitation has doubled with visitation numbers reaching 2.3 million in 2021. With such large numbers, water safety is a more important mission than ever for the project.
Miller and Maib both laude the life jacket loaner board program which is a fantastic partnership between USACE and the state park program and is a great way to educate on the importance of water safety. This program has been an instrumental part of educating the public about the importance of like jackets and informing visitors about water safety.
Together, Miller and Maib developed a plan to sub-lease Mountain Fork Park to the private sector to bolster the water safety program for kayakers. This area serves as the main drop off location for 12 local kayak outfitters.
When a hydropower release is made from Broken Bow Dam, these kayakers are directly downstream and could be in harm’s way if they do not heed the warning sirens. With this new system, there is one point of contact for notification of releases, so the information reaches the kayakers drastically reducing the calls for water rescues.
Previous years saw the need for 40-50 swift water rescues by the Broken Bow fire department by mid-summer. With the implementation of this program, this summer the department has only responded to two calls for the same time period.
“There were many years USACE did not have a dedicated employee at Broken Bow,” said Hugo Lake Manager Shae Harrison.
“Having someone on site to answer questions for our stakeholders and the adjacent property owners has been a great asset. Adam has doesn’t have the typical ranger job; he works as more of a middleman in a lot of cases. He’s in a strange position, but he handles it very well,” said Harrison.

• Date Taken: 08.31.2022
• Date Posted: 08.31.2022 10:49
• Story ID: 428385
• Location: BROKEN BOW , OK, US