Parks and Recreation

Limited Progress Made in Documenting and Mitigating Threats to the Parks Gao ID: RCED-87-36 February 9, 1987

In response to a congressional request, GAO provided information on: (1) National Park Service (NPS) actions to address threats to the National Park System's natural and cultural resources; and (2) the extent to which current legislation obligates NPS to intercede in outside actions that would affect park resources.

GAO found that: (1) although NPS required parks to complete resource management plans (RMP) by the end of 1981 and update them annually, only half met the original deadline, and NPS did not use the completed plans in formulating its annual budget; (2) NPS failed to follow through on the initiatives for improving resource information and increasing scientific research, but has undertaken the training initiatives; (3) neither NPS nor the individual parks kept track of their progress in addressing the threats to their resources that a 1980 report identified; (4) the NPS budget for resource management increased from $44 million in 1980 to $93 million in 1984; (5) the parks used additional funds to remove harmful plants and animals and repair deteriorating historic structures; (6) as of December 1985, NPS had not resolved 80 percent of the threats reported in 1980; and (7) NPS did not receive funding for many of its proposed projects to address known and potential resource problems.

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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