Need To Reevaluate Helistat Program Objectives and Progress

GAO reviewed the status and objectives of the Forest Service's Helistat program.

GAO found that fundamental acquisition management principles that should have been applied in the Helistat program's development have not been applied. In managing the program, the Forest Service has unnecessarily tied program milestones to land management planning timeframes and moved too hastily, thereby overlooking essential considerations in planning a development strategy. For example, potential users were not contacted before beginning the program to get their participation and advice for determining the need for, uses of, and operational requirements for a Helistat concept vehicle. Information which GAO has developed from contacting potential users shows that it is questionable whether the Helistat concept under development will have practical application as a timber harvesting method. In addition, the system being developed cannot be reproduced without substantial redesign. Consequently, it will not be useful in demonstrating the economics of aerial logging, the principal objective of the development program. Finally, the Navy, which is administering the development contract for the Forest Service, is being hampered in its efforts to obtain data that are necessary to evaluate the program's progress, particularly regarding the engineering adequacy and safety of the vehicle being developed.

Recommendations

Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.

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