Natural Resources Management Issue Area Plan--Fiscal Years 1996-97
(Letter Report, 08/01/95, GAO/IAP-95-16).

GAO presented its Natural Resources Management issue area plan for
fiscal years 1996 through 1997.

GAO plans to assess: (1) ways to obtain a better return on the sale or
use of natural resources on federal lands or eliminate or reduce federal
subsidies; (2) efficiency improvements within and coordination among the
four primary federal land management agencies; (3) improvements in
collaboration and consensus-building among federal and nonfederal
stakeholders to address problems or issues related to natural resources;
and (4) whether agencies are meeting existing production and
conservation requirements.

--------------------------- Indexing Terms -----------------------------

 REPORTNUM:  IAP-95-16
     TITLE:  Natural Resources Management Issue Area Plan--Fiscal Years 
             1996-97
      DATE:  08/01/95
   SUBJECT:  Land management
             Natural resources
             Fair market value
             Interagency relations
             Conservation
             National forests
             National parks
             Wildlife management
             Federal agency reorganization
             Cost control

             
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Cover
================================================================ COVER


Resources, Community, and Economic Development Division

August 1995

NATURAL RESOURCES MANAGEMENT ISSUE
AREA PLAN - FISCAL YEARS 1996-97

GAO/IAP-95-16



Abbreviations
=============================================================== ABBREV


FOREWORD
============================================================ Chapter 0

As the investigative arm of Congress and the nation's auditor, the
General Accounting Office is charged with following the federal
dollar wherever it goes.  Reflecting stringent standards of
objectivity and independence, GAO's audits, evaluations, and
investigations promote a more efficient and cost-effective
government; expose waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement in federal
programs; help Congress target budget reductions; assess financial
information management; and alert Congress to developing trends that
may have significant fiscal or budgetary consequences.  In fulfilling
its responsibilities, GAO performs original research and uses
hundreds of databases or creates its own to compile and analyze
information. 

To ensure that GAO's resources are directed toward the most important
issues facing Congress, each of GAO's 35 issue areas develops a
strategic plan that describes its key issues and their significance;
the objectives and focus of its work; and the planned major job
starts.  Each issue area relies heavily on input from congressional
committees, agency officials, and subject-matter experts in
developing its strategic plan. 

The Natural Resources Management issue area reviews the Department of
the Interior and its bureaus, the Department of Agriculture's Forest
Service, the Army Corps of Engineers, and the National Marine
Fisheries Service and other oceanic programs within the Department of
Commerce's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 
Together, these agencies are responsible for about 650 million acres,
or about 30 percent, of the nation's total surface area; another 1.4
billion acres of ocean floor; and an infrastructure of buildings,
roads, dams, and other facilities valued at about $200 billion. 
These assets generated about $6.7 billion in revenues in fiscal year
1994. 

GAO's work in natural resources management generally focuses on
improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the federal government
in fulfilling its stewardship responsibilities.  The principal issues
are

  -- increasing revenues by obtaining a better return for the sale or
     use of natural resources on federal lands or by eliminating or
     reducing federal subsidies;

  -- improving efficiency within and coordination among the four
     primary federal land management agencies--the National Park
     Service, the Bureau of Land Management, the Fish and Wildlife
     Service within Interior, and the Forest Service within
     Agriculture;

  -- improving collaboration and consensus-building among federal and
     nonfederal stakeholders to address problems or issues related to
     natural resources; and

  -- assessing whether agencies are meeting, or changes need to be
     made to, existing production and conservation requirements. 

In the following pages, we describe our objectives and planned work
on these issues.  Because unanticipated events may significantly
affect this plan, our planning process allows for updating the plan
and responding quickly to new emerging issues.  If you have any
questions or suggestions, please call me at (202) 512-7756 or one of
my associates Barry T.  Hill, at (202) 512-8021 or James K.  Meissner
at (206) 287-4810. 

James Duffus III
Director
Natural Resources Management Issues


CONTENTS
============================================================ Chapter 1


   FOREWORD
---------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 1:1

1


   TABLE I:  KEY ISSUES
---------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 1:2

4


   TABLE II:  PLANNED MAJOR WORK
---------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 1:3

6


TABLE I:  KEY ISSUES
============================================================ Chapter 2

Issue                         Significance
----------------------------  --------------------------------------------------
Increasing revenues: Do       Opportunities may exist to increase revenues by
opportunities exist to        obtaining a better return on the sale or use of
increase revenues either by   natural resources on federal lands as well as by
obtaining a better return on  eliminating or reducing existing subsidies.
the sale or use of natural    Operating federal land management agencies more
resources on federal lands    like profitable businesses could save taxpayers
or by eliminating or          billions of dollars a year and reduce the growing
reducing existing             shortfall between maintenance and reconstruction
subsidies?                    needs and the funds available to meet these
                              needs.







Improving efficiency: Can     The four primary federal land management agencies-
federal land management       -the National Park Service, the Bureau of Land
agencies become more          Management, and the Fish and Wildlife Service
efficient?                    within Interior and the Forest Service within
                              Agriculture--are in the process of downsizing and
                              restructuring. They are also beginning to consider
                              which functions and programs to eliminate or turn
                              over to state and local governments or the private
                              sector. In addition, legislation has been
                              introduced to ease regulatory controls on federal
                              land managers and to simplify and expedite
                              planning and other procedural requirements. The
                              effectiveness of these efforts as well as the
                              potential to reduce costs, increase efficiency,
                              and improve service to the public by coordinating
                              and integrating functions, systems, activities,
                              and programs among the four agencies are important
                              issues to Congress.






Coordinating federal and      Many problems or issues relating to natural
nonfederal approaches to      resources management transcend the existing
managing natural resources:   boundaries of the four primary federal land
Do barriers exist to          management agencies. These agencies believe that
implementing broader          broader approaches to problem-solving are required
approaches to meet the        to address activities originating across ownership
government's two basic        boundaries and have begun to test approaches that
stewardship mandates: (1)     require, among other things, increased
sustain long-term commodity   collaboration and consensus-building among federal
production and use on         and nonfederal stakeholders.
federal lands and (2)
conserve natural resources
for future generations?


Assessing production and      Federal land management agencies and other federal
conservation requirements:    agencies must comply with existing production and
Are federal agencies with     conservation laws and regulations. The extent of
land management               their compliance as well as the reasons for any
responsibilities meeting      noncompliance and the extent to which these
existing production and       agencies are held accountable are important to
conservation requirements or  Congress's oversight responsibilities. Congress is
are changes needed?           also considering changes to substantive
                              conservation requirements, including the
                              Endangered Species Act and the wetlands provisions
                              of the Clean Water Act.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Objectives                                Focus of work
----------------------------------------  --------------------------------------
--Evaluate ways to obtain a better        --Potential sources of additional
return on the sale or use of natural      revenues, including fees, and the
resources on federal lands, recover       purposes, beneficiaries, and impacts
reasonable program costs, and provide a   of subsidies
revenue base that can be used to better
manage federal lands and resources.       --Impacts of managing federal lands
                                          more like a profitable business and of
--Identify opportunities to eliminate or  emphasizing the combinations of land
reduce subsidies that are no longer       uses that are most valuable while
needed, benefit the wrong parties, or     safeguarding nonmarketable resources
degrade or encourage abuse of natural
resources.

--Assess ways to operate federal land
management agencies more like profitable
businesses.

--Recommend ways for federal land         --Duplication of systems, functions,
management agencies to reduce costs,      activities, and programs among
increase efficiency, and improve service  agencies and opportunities to link
to the public.                            proposed reforms

--Provide alternative approaches to       --Agencies' efforts to identify
downsize federal land management          functions and programs to eliminate or
agencies.                                 turn over to state and local
                                          governments or the private sector
--Identify opportunities to simplify and
expedite federal land management          --Agencies' efforts to provide their
planning and procedural requirements.     land managers greater flexibility in
                                          complying with planning and procedural
--Recommend ways to improve federal land  requirements
management agencies' ability to account
for the $6 billion a year appropriated    --Agencies' compliance with the Chief
to them and to measure program benefits   Financial Officers Act and the
as required by law.                       Government Performance and Results
                                          Act


--Identify potential ways to improve      --Barriers to federal and nonfederal
federal and nonfederal collaboration to   collaboration and consensus-building
address problems or issues that           and options for overcoming them
transcend existing ownership
boundaries.                               --Alternatives to command-and-control
                                          regulations to accomplish basic
--Evaluate options to accomplish basic    stewardship mandates, including
stewardship mandates while easing         incentives, education, and technical
regulatory controls on private            assistance
landowners and other nonfederal
parties.                                  --Adequacy of available scientific and
                                          socioeconomic data, including gaps,
--Assess approaches to improve the        duplication, or overlap
scientific and socioeconomic data
available to help Congress make informed
public policy decisions on natural
resources management.

--Identify opportunities to improve       --Changes in programs, systems,
agency compliance with existing           activities, and projects to improve
production and conservation               compliance with existing laws and
requirements.                             regulations

--Determine the impact of existing        --Sources of conflicts among laws and
individual conservation or protection     regulations and options to mitigate or
laws or regulations on federal land       eliminate the conflicts
managers' ability to meet their basic
stewardship mandates.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

TABLE II:  PLANNED MAJOR WORK
============================================================ Chapter 3

Issue                      Planned major job starts
-------------------------  -----------------------------------------------------
Increasing revenues        --Assess efforts by the Forest Service to obtain a
                           better return for special uses of its lands.
                           --Assess potential sources of additional revenues,
                           including increasing fees and decreasing subsidies.





Improving Efficiency       --Assess efforts by the four primary federal land
                           management agencies to downsize, streamline, and
                           restructure.
                           --Assess the potential for consolidating functions,
                           systems, activities, or programs among the four
                           agencies.
                           --Evaluate the effectiveness of the four agencies'
                           ongoing efforts to identify functions and programs to
                           eliminate or to turn over to others.
                           --Assess agencies' compliance with the Chief
                           Financial Officers and Government Performance and
                           Results Acts.
                           --Identify potential savings in the administration's
                           fiscal year 1997 budget for the four agencies.





Coordinating federal and   --Evaluate the administration's efforts to identify
nonfederal approaches to   and address barriers to implementing broader
managing natural           approaches to environmental and natural resources
resources                  management.
                           --Identify barriers to the four agencies' efforts to
                           increase cooperation with other federal agencies and
                           ways to overcome those barriers.
                           --Identify barriers to federal and nonfederal
                           collaboration and consensus-building and ways to
                           overcome them.
                           --Identify data and systems problems within the
                           Department of the Interior and the Forest Service and
                           ways to solve them.




Assessing                  --Identify ways to protect endangered species while
production and             easing the act's impact on managing federal lands and
conservation requirements  on private property rights.
                           --Analyze reasons for, impact of, and ways to
                           mitigate the nation's declining commercial fish
                           populations.
                           --Assess the viability of maintaining a commercial
                           timber program.
                           --Identify internal threats to the national parks and
                           ways to address them.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

*** End of document. ***