	Strategies Are Still Needed to Ensure Effective Use of Wildland Fire Management Funds

In our 2009 testimony, we reported that the Forest Service, working with  the Department of the Interior, had taken steps to help manage perhaps  the agency’s most daunting challenge—protecting lives, private property,  and federal resources from the threat of wildland fire—but that it  continued to lack key strategies needed to use its wildland fire funds  effectively. In a series of reports dating to 1999, we have  recommended that the Forest Service and Interior agencies develop a  cohesive wildland fire strategy identifying potential long-term options for  reducing fuels and responding to fires, as well as the funding requirements  associated with the various options. The agencies continue to take steps to improve FPA, but it is  not clear how effective these steps will be in correcting the problems we  have identified, and therefore we believe that the agencies will continue to  face challenges in this area. Incomplete Data on Program Activities Remain a Concern

Our 2009 testimony noted shortcomings in the completeness and accuracy  of Forest Service data on activities and costs. Although we have not  comprehensively reviewed the quality of all Forest Service data, we have  encountered shortcomings during several recent reviews that reinforce  our concerns. For example, during our review of appeals and litigation of  Forest Service decisions related to fuel reduction projects, we sought to  use the agency’s Planning, Appeals, and Litigation System, which was  designed to track planning, appeals, and litigation information for all  Forest Service decisions. Even with Improvements, Some Financial and Performance Accountability Shortcomings Persist

In 2009, we testified that the Forest Service had made sufficient progress  resolving problems we identified with its financial management for us to  remove the agency from our high-risk list in 2005 but that concerns about  financial accountability remained. Echoing these  concerns about internal control weaknesses, Agriculture reported in its  2010 Performance and Accountability Report that the Forest Service  needed to improve controls over its expenditures for wildland fire  management and identified the wildland fire suppression program as  susceptible to significant improper payments. The Forest Service Faces Additional Challenges Related to Program Oversight and Strategic Planning

In addition to the management challenges we discussed in our 2009  testimony, several of our recent reviews have identified additional  challenges facing the Forest Service—challenges that highlight the need  for more effective program oversight and better strategic planning. However, in our 2009 report  on the Forest Service’s land exchange program, we found that, although  the agency had taken action to address most of the problems we had  previously identified, it needed to take additional action to better oversee  and manage the land exchange process so as to ensure that land  exchanges serve the public interest and return fair value to taxpayers. Without more clearly aligning its workforce plans with  its strategic plan, and monitoring and evaluating its progress in workforce  planning, as we recommended in that report, the Forest Service remains at  risk of not having the appropriately skilled workforce it needs to  effectively achieve its mission. Workforce planning is of particular concern in the area of wildland  firefighting. In 2010,  we issued reports examining different aspects of the Forest Service’s  response to illegal activities occurring on the lands it manages, including  human and drug smuggling into the United States. For example, we  reported that the Forest Service, like other federal land management  agencies, lacks a risk-based approach to managing its law enforcement  resources and concluded that without a more systematic method to assess  risks posed by illegal activities, the Forest Service could not be assured  that it was allocating scarce resources effectively. In  light of these shortcomings, and to better protect resources and the public,  we recommended that the Forest Service adopt a risk-based approach to  better manage its law enforcement resources and, in conjunction with the  Department of the Interior and the Department of Homeland Security, take  steps to improve communication and coordination between the agencies. Wildland Fire Management: Federal Agencies Have Taken Important  Steps Forward, but Additional, Strategic Action Is Needed to Capitalize  on Those Steps. Hardrock Mining: Information on State Royalties and the Number of  Abandoned Mine Sites and Hazards. Forest Service: Emerging Issues Highlight the Need to Address Persistent  Management Challenges.
Why GAO Did This Study

The Forest Service, within the Department of Agriculture, manages over 190 million acres of national forest and grasslands. The agency is responsible for managing its lands for various purposes--including recreation, grazing, timber harvesting, and others--while ensuring that such activities do not impair the lands' long-term productivity. Numerous GAO reports examining different aspects of Forest Service programs--including a testimony before this Subcommittee in 2009--have identified persistent management challenges facing the agency. In light of the federal deficit and long-term fiscal challenges facing the nation, the Forest Service cannot ensure that it is spending its limited budget effectively and efficiently without addressing these challenges. This testimony highlights some of the management challenges facing the Forest Service today and is based on recent reports GAO has issued on a variety of the agency's activities.

What GAO Found

In 2009, GAO highlighted management challenges that the Forest Service faced in three key areas--wildland fire management, data on program activities and costs, and financial and performance accountability. The Forest Service has made some improvements, but challenges persist in each of these three areas. In addition, recent GAO reports have identified additional challenges related to program oversight and strategic planning. Strategies are still needed to ensure effective use of wildland fire management funds. In numerous previous reports, GAO has highlighted the challenges the Forest Service faces in protecting the nation against the threat of wildland fire. The agency continues to take steps to improve its approach, but it has yet to take several key steps--including developing a cohesive wildland fire strategy that identifies potential long-term options for reducing hazardous fuels and responding to fires--that, if completed, would substantially strengthen wildland fire management. Incomplete data on program activities remain a concern. In 2009, GAO concluded that long-standing data problems plagued the Forest Service, hampering its ability to manage its programs and account for its costs. While GAO has not comprehensively reviewed the quality of all Forest Service data, shortcomings identified during several recent reviews reinforce these concerns. For example, GAO recently identified data gaps in the agency's system for tracking appeals and litigation of Forest Service projects and in the number of abandoned hardrock mines on its lands. Even with improvements, financial and performance accountability shortcomings persist. Although its financial accountability has improved, the Forest Service continues to struggle to implement adequate internal controls over its funds and to demonstrate how its expenditures relate to the goals in the agency's strategic plan. For example, in 2010 Agriculture reported that the agency needed to improve controls over its expenditures for wildland fire management and identified the wildland fire suppression program as susceptible to significant improper payments. Additional challenges related to program oversight and strategic planning have been identified. Several recent GAO reviews have identified additional challenges facing the Forest Service, which the agency must address if it is to effectively and efficiently fulfill its mission. Specifically, the agency has yet to develop a national land tenure strategy that would protect the public's interest in land exchanges and return fair value to taxpayers from such exchanges. In addition, it has yet to take recommended steps to align its workforce planning with its strategic plan, which may compromise its ability to carry out its mission; for example, it has not adequately planned for the likely retirement of firefighters, which may reduce the agency's ability to protect the safety of both people and property. Finally, the Forest Service needs a more systematic, risk-based approach to allocate its law-enforcement resources. Without such an approach it cannot be assured that it is deploying its resources effectively against illegal activities on the lands it manages.

What GAO Recommends

GAO has made a number of recommendations intended to improve the Forest Service's management of wildland fires, strengthen its collection of data, increase accountability, and improve program management. The Forest Service has taken steps to implement many of these recommendations, but additional action is needed if the agency is to make further progress in rectifying identified shortcomings.