U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Seattle District

06/13/2026

🎼 Did you know there are free concerts at the Hiram M. Chittenden Locks - Ballard Locks throughout the summer? Enjoy some of this awesome nature (plus some world-class music) - just remember to bring your own chairs or blankets as seating won't be provided. There are two concerts this weekend - at 2 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday!

Can't make it this weekend? No worries, the concerts run through Labor Day! Find the full schedule here: https://www.nws.usace.army.mil/Portals/27/Concerts%20at%20the%20Locks%202026.png

06/12/2026

Looking for an excuse to get out on the water without spending a dime? We have some fantastic news for you.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is waiving all day-use fees at more than 2,800 recreation areas nationwide to celebrate our birthday on June 16.

Can’t make it on June 16? Don't worry. We offer several fee-free days throughout the year, including the upcoming Independence Day weekend from July 3-5, National Public Lands Day on September 26, and Veterans Day on November 11.

Be sure to check our website to confirm local park hours and operational status before you head out. Pack up the family, enjoy the sunshine, and come celebrate with us in the great outdoors!

To discover a USACE recreation site near you, please visit the USACE recreation website at https://corpslakes.erdc.dren.mil/visitors/visitors.cfm or visit www.recreation.gov.

Albeni Falls Dam | Chief Joseph Dam and Rufus Woods Lake | Libby Dam

06/12/2026

Dang Chief Joseph Dam, what big wrenches and cranes you have!

All in a days work to generate clean, reliable hydropower at USACE's largest hydropower project.

📷 Chief Joseph Dam and Rufus Woods Lake

06/11/2026

☀️ Warmer weather is here, and that means more people will be heading to lakes, rivers, and reservoirs across the Pacific Northwest.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Seattle District reminds everyone that safety should always come first when enjoying the water. Even on sunny days, water temperatures can remain dangerously cold, and conditions can change quickly.

Before you head out:

🦺 Always wear a properly fitted life jacket when on or near the water.
💧 Stay hydrated by drinking plenty of water throughout the day.
☀️ Apply and reapply sunscreen to protect yourself from harmful UV rays.
👀 Keep a close watch on children and inexperienced swimmers.
🚤 Never operate a boat or participate in water activities while impaired.

A few simple precautions can make the difference between a great day on the water and a preventable tragedy.

Make water safety part of your summer plans and help ensure everyone gets home safely.

06/05/2026

You: USACE only has engineers. Us: We can't begin to explain how wrong that is. Actually, it'll bother us if we don't!

Meet Jacqui Bergner, an acquatic biologist with Seattle District’s Planning, Environmental and Cultural Resources Branch. She's part of diverse group of biologists, archaeologists, historians and environmental scientists providing technical expertise to ensure USACE projects comply with the nation’s most important environmental laws, such as the Endangered Speciest Act.

For one week in early May, she called the massive hopper dredge Essayons her home, working 12-hour shifts sifting through thousands of pounds of sand and mud. Her mission: to monitor for the accidental “take” of threatened green sturgeon during dredging operations in Grays Harbor, Washington.

It was an exhausting but temporary assignment where USACE’s civil works and environmental stewardship missions merged to protect green sturgeon, a historic species that has swum among dinosaurs.

Let us know in the comments which Seattle District job we should highlight next.

📝 The entire story: www.army.mil/article/293071

📸 (Top left): Jacqui Bergner, a USACE aquatic biologist, poses for a picture holding a Dungeness crab. Bergner and her colleague were responsible for cataloging various aquatic life that came aboard the vessel via the “crab catcher” and deposited into the vessel’s hopper.

📸 (Top right): Seen in the background, the gray drag arm overhangs off the Essayons starboard side and is used to dredge material from a channel. Dredging in Washington state's Grays Harbor is done to keep that channel clear and safe for navigation. Once sediments are dredged from the waterway, they are referred to as "dredged material."

📸 (Bottom left): Jacqui Bergner, a USACE Seattle District aquatic biologist sprays the “crab catcher" aboard the dredging vessel Essayons. The crab catcher gathers a portion of dredged material and is sprayed before biologists process the sample and record their findings.

📸 (Bottom right): Tissue samples are cleaned, measured and photographed prior to sending to USACE's Engineer Research and the Development Center for DNA testing.

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Headquarters | Portland District, US Army Corps of Engineers | NOAA Fisheries West Coast | | | | |

06/03/2026

Libby Dam's dark, cavernous spaces aren't just great for generating hydropower—they’re also a prime hangout spot for local bat populations!

In fact, did you know that Libby Dam provides critical habitat for this district’s ONLY known bat maternity colony and the largest known in Montana? Holy Smokes, Batman!

Our Libby Dam natural resource team recently paired up with Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks to check in on our nocturnal neighborsfor during a late-night field session, May 21, to safely capture and monitor local bat species.

The main mission? Checking the bats for White-Nose Syndrome, a devastating fungal disease that has severely impacted bat populations across North America. Catching it early and tracking its footprint is critical for keeping local colonies healthy.

While the image of scientists and rangers wrangling bats in the dark sounds like comic book plot, the work is vital to the regional ecosystem.

Bats are the unsung heroes of Montana’s wildlife network. As primary predators of night-flying insects, a single brown bat can eat its own body weight in bugs every night. By keeping pest populations in check, they act as a natural shield for our forests and surrounding agricultural lands.

This joint partnership keeps a watchful eye on our winged allies, ensuring they can keep doing their vital work under the cover of darkness.

DYK: Beyond pest control, bats play a massive role in nutrient cycling across Pacific Northwest forests, making their health a direct indicator of overall ecosystem resilience.

To recap: Healthy Bats ➡️ Control Insects ➡️ Protect Forests & Agriculture aka Stable Ecosystem. Got it? Good!

Here are a few photos of that field session.

📸 USACE/Libby Dam

06/01/2026

Hey you! Yeah you!! You should go outside and touch some grass for National Outdoors Month.

Here in Seattle District, we've got it all: lush botanical gardens, roaring dams and pristine lakeside campgrounds. And they're all waiting for you!

Take a relaxing stroll among rare Dawn Redwoods at the Carl S Jr. Botanical Garden at our Hiram M. Chittenden Locks - Ballard Locks.

Looking for a weekend escape during all the World Cup activity starting soon? Reserve a picnic shelter and hike the foothills at Mud Mountain Dam near Buckley, Wash.

Anglers can chase trophy walleye in the glacier-carved canyons of Chief Joseph Dam and Rufus Woods Lake in central Washington.

For a longer getaway, enjoy diverse lakeside camping at Springy Point Campground, not fair from our Albeni Falls Dam in northern Idaho.

And we can't forget our friends at Libby Dam, where folks can play disc golf nearby at the Kooky Noosa disc gold course or watch for bald eagles. Camping, fishing, boating and wildlife watching are popular in the recreation areas below the dam.

Beyond providing fun, our recreation programs actively manage natural resources, offer vital public education, and improve the quality of life for our communities.

Plan your next adventure today and help us celebrate the great outdoors! Visit https://www.recreation.gov/ to reserve a picnic shelter or campground spot.

📸 (Top): Carl S. English Jr. Botanical Garden at the Hiram M. Chittenden Locks.
📸 (Bottom): Sunset at Springy Point Campground, near Sandpoint, Idaho.

05/31/2026

Summer is just around the corner ☀️ and National Dam Safety Awareness Day is as good a time as any to remind you to stay safe around dams, spillways, and fast-moving water!

Behind the scenes, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers teams work to monitor and maintain safety at dams across the country, including here in the Pacific Northwest. But how can YOU contribute to safety? One way is to be aware of the dangers of low-head dams.

Low-head dams are constructed in-water barriers that span the width of a waterway. They're typically less than 15 feet tall and not always visible from both upstream and downstream directions. The continuous flow of water creates a recirculating current downstream that can trap people and debris. If you're ever in doubt of the safety of the waterway you're in, get out of the water and scout the area. Don't get close to a low-head dam and never attempt to swim, float, or paddle over one.

For more information on low-head dams, including an inventory of low-head dams across the country, check out: https://nid.sec.usace.army.mil/lhdi

To learn more about USACE's dam safety program, check out: https://www.usace.army.mil/missions/civil-works/dam-safety-program/

05/27/2026

No one got bounced out the club this weekend, because it was a party.

Kudos to our hardworking colleagues at Hiram M. Chittenden Locks - Ballard Locks for managing the kayaker traffic!

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05/21/2026

What do online pizza ordering and permitting have to do with each other?

We know it sounds odd, USACE took that "pizza order tracking" concept and applied it to permit paperwork.

Our U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Headquarters colleagues heard the concerns: too much paperwork and confusion for tracking a permit’s status.

The answer to that problem is a new Regulatory Request System, known as RRS. It’s USACE’s version of a food delivery tracker, but for your permits!

The RRS web platform lets you submit applications and track your status in real time on a user-friendly dashboard. It is all about delivering faster decisions for projects.

The RRS rollout supports Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works Mr. Adam Telle's "Building Infrastructure, Not Working" initative. The transformative initative is designed to cut red tape and accelerate project delivery.

USACE Seattle District’s regulatory division will host outreach events this summer to demonstrate how to use RRS and to answer questions about the new system before RRS becomes our primary permitting system on Oct. 1, 2026.

There are three opportunities to RSVP to attend in-person or virtually:
June 16, 2026 - Vancouver, Washington
July 28, 2026 - Spokane, Washington
August 11, 2026 - Seattle, Washington

Folks can RSVP by contacting [email protected] no later than one week before the event using the email subject line: 2026 RRS Public Outreach Events.

Include your name (or company/organization), emails of those attending (if different than sender), preferred date/location and whether you want to participate in-person or virtually.

More info on how to RSVP is in our news story 👇

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ (USACE) Seattle District Regulatory Division reviews thousands of permit applications each year. From infrastructure improvements to shoreline work, USACE regulators