District names new manager for Corps’ Arkansas Lakes

VICKSBURG, Miss… The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Vicksburg District recently named Rick Dwyer as its manager for three Arkansas Corps lakes including DeGray, Greeson and Lake Ouachita.

Dwyer will be responsible for managing the three Arkansas Corps lakes with each of their hydropower plants, and 114,183 acres of public lands with 49 recreational areas. He will also manage a combined staff of 188 Corps and contract employees with an average budget of approximately $19 million.

Nationally recognized projects within his oversight include the Geo-Float Trail, the first water-based nature trail in the country, which was a finalist in the Chief of Engineers awards program in 1984, and the recently completed 45-mile Lake Ouachita Vista Trail that will benefit the local economy by providing recreational opportunities for thousands of visitors. Lake Ouachita also received a National Take Pride in America award in 1991.

Dwyer began his career with the Corps in 1980 as a temporary park technician at Lake Ouachita. Previous assignments include park technician in the Louisiana Field Office, Monroe, Louisiana; supervisory park ranger at Lake Ouachita Field Office; park manager at DeGray Lake Field Office and Lake Ouachita Field Office; and deputy project manager, Ouachita Project Management Office.

He is a member of Council 6419, Knights of Columbus in Hot Springs, Arkansas. He also serves on the Parks and Trails Advisory Committee, Hot Springs, Arkansas.

A native of St. Louis, Missouri, he is a graduate of DeSmet Jesuit High School, and earned his Bachelor of Science Degree in biology from Arkansas Tech University in 1982.

He is married to the former Pam May of White Hall, Arkansas, and they are the parents of three children.