	Background

The four major federal land management agencies administer  approximately 628 million acres, or about 28 percent of the land area in  the United States. Second, the Secretaries can directly use a portion  of FLTFA revenue to acquire specific parcels of land at their own  discretion. Among other things, FLTFA requires that (1) no more  than 20 percent of the revenue can be used for BLM’s administrative and  other activities necessary to carry out the land disposal program; (2) of the  amount not spent on administrative expenses, at least 80 percent must be  expended in the state in which the funds were generated; and (3) at least  80 percent of FLTFA revenue required to be spent on land acquisitions  within a state must be used to acquire inholdings (as opposed to adjacent  land) within that state. BLM Has Raised Most FLTFA Revenue from Land Sales in Nevada

At the time of our review, BLM had raised $95.7 million in revenue, mostly  from selling 16,659 acres. As of May 2007, about 92 percent of the revenue  raised, or $88 million, came from land sales in Nevada. As of August 2009, BLM  reported raising a total of $113.4 million in revenue for the FLTFA account  from the sale of about 29,400 acres. BLM Faces Challenges to Future Sales Under FLTFA

BLM faces several challenges to raising revenue through future FLTFA  sales, according to officials in the 10 BLM state offices and 18 BLM field  offices we interviewed for our 2008 report. The following lists, in order of  most frequently cited, the challenges officials identified and provides  examples:    The availability of knowledgeable realty staff to conduct the sales. We identified two additional issues hampering land sales activity under  FLTFA. First, while BLM had identified land for sale in its land use plans, it  had not made the sale of this land a priority during the first 7 years of the  program. Furthermore, BLM had not set goals for sales or developed a  sales implementation strategy. Second, some of the additional land BLM  had identified for sale since FLTFA was enacted would not generate  revenue for acquisitions because the act only allows the deposit of  revenue from the sale of lands identified for disposal on or before the date  of the act. Agencies Had Purchased Few Parcels with FLTFA Revenue

At the time of our review, BLM had reported that the four land  management agencies had spent $13.3 million of the $95.7 million in the  FLTFA account. The agencies acquired these lands between August 2007 and January  2008—more than 7 years after FLTFA was enacted. Acquisitions had not yet occurred  under the state-level process because it took 6 years to complete the  interagency agreements needed to implement the program and because  relatively little revenue was available for acquisitions outside of Nevada,  owing to FLTFA requirements. Of the $66.8 million, agencies spent a total of about $43.8 million to acquire  28 parcels totaling 16,738 acres and the remainder of the approved  acquisitions was being processed. Of the $48.6 million nominated through the state- level process, the agencies have acquired 12 parcels with $24.6 million in  FLTFA funding. Agencies Face Challenges in Completing Additional Acquisitions

BLM state and field officials we interviewed for our 2008 report cited  several challenges to completing additional acquisitions under FLTFA. Time, cost, and complexity of the land acquisition process. And with respect to the national MOU,  BLM had not established a procedure to track agreed-upon fund  allocations—60 percent for BLM, 20 percent for the Forest Service, and 10  percent each for the Fish and Wildlife Service and the Park Service. However, we believed that BLM’s failure to set goals for FLTFA  sales and develop a sales implementation strategy limited the agency’s  ability to raise revenue for acquisitions. GAO Recommendations to Improve FLTFA Implementation and Agency Actions, as of November 2009  August 2008. BLM established FLTFA land sale goals for fiscal years 2009  and 2010 of $25 million each, according to agency officials. Specifically,  the program makes available up to $300,000 to eligible state and field offices  for activities necessary to identify and pre-screen properties for possible sale  under FLTFA. November 2009.
Why GAO Did This Study

The U.S. Department of the Interior's Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Fish and Wildlife Service, and National Park Service, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Forest Service manage about 628 million acres of public land, mostly in 11 western states and Alaska. Under the Federal Land Transaction Facilitation Act (FLTFA) of 2000, revenue raised from selling BLM lands is available to the agencies, primarily to acquire nonfederal land within the boundaries of land they already own--known as inholdings. These inholdings can create significant land management problems. To acquire land, the agencies can nominate parcels under state-level interagency agreements or the Secretaries can use their discretion to initiate acquisitions. FLTFA expires in July 2010. This testimony discusses GAO's 2008 report: Federal Land Management: Federal Land Transaction Facilitation Act Restrictions and Management Weaknesses Limit Future Sales and Acquisitions (GAO-08-196). Specifically, the testimony discusses (1) FLTFA revenue generated, (2) challenges to future sales, (3) FLTFA expenditures, (4) challenges to future acquisitions, and (5) agencies' implementation of GAO's recommendations. Among other things, GAO examined the act, agency guidance, and FLTFA sale and acquisition data, interviewed agency officials, and obtained some updated information.

What GAO Found

(1) BLM raised most FLTFA revenue from land sales in Nevada. As of August 2009, BLM reported raising a total of $113.4 million from sale of about 29,400 acres. Since FLTFA was enacted in 2000 through August 2009, about 78 percent of the revenue raised, or about $88 million, has come from land transactions in Nevada. (2) BLM faces challenges to future sales under FLTFA. In particular, BLM state and field officials most frequently cited the limited availability of knowledgeable realty staff to conduct sales. We identified two additional issues hampering land sales activity under FLTFA. First, while BLM had identified land for sale in its land use plans, it had not made these sales a priority during the first 7 years of the FLTFA program. Furthermore, BLM had not set goals for sales or developed a sales implementation strategy. Second, some of the additional land BLM had identified for sale since the act would not generate revenue for acquisitions because the act only allows the deposit of revenue from the sale of lands identified for disposal on or before the date of the act. (3) Agencies had purchased few parcels with FLTFA revenue. In 2008, we reported that between August 2007--7 years after FLTFA was enacted--and January 2008, the four land management agencies had spent $13.3 million of the $95.7 million in revenue raised under FLTFA: $10.1 million using the Secretaries' discretion to acquire nine parcels of land and $3.2 million for administrative expenses to prepare land for FLTFA sales. More recently, as of November 2009, BLM reported spending a total of $43.8 million to acquire 28 parcels, including $24.6 million for 12 parcels through the state-level interagency process. (4) Agencies face challenges to completing additional acquisitions. BLM state and field officials GAO interviewed most commonly cited the time, cost, and complexity of the land acquisition process as a challenge to completing land acquisitions. Furthermore, the act's requirement to spend the majority of funds in the state in which revenue was generated has had the effect of making little revenue available for acquisitions outside of Nevada. The agencies also had not established procedures to track the implementation of the act's requirement that at least 80 percent of FLTFA revenue raised in each state be used to acquire inholdings in that state or to track the extent to which BLM is complying with agreed-upon fund allocations among the four participating agencies. (5) BLM has taken steps to implement GAO's recommendations. Specifically, BLM established FLTFA sale goals for fiscal years 2009 and 2010 and established a sales incentive program providing seed funds to state and field offices to identify and pre-screen properties for possible sale under FLTFA. As of November 2009, six states have agreed to participate in the program.