Grazing Fees

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) collected $2.2 million in grazing fees in Montana in fiscal year 1991, part of which was distributed to state and local governments. GAO concludes that BLM's management of these receipts provides reasonable assurance that Montana is receiving its full share of the grazing fee receipts. GAO found that no lands had been misclassified, and the grazing fee receipts had been properly distributed. While basically sound, BLM's grazing fee billing and accounting systems are subject to errors, as any automated system is if data are entered incorrectly and mistakes are not caught and corrected. Although GAO found several instances of inaccurate data entry, BLM had corrected them by the time of GAO's review. With the formation of a committee to identify and implement edit-checks needed to refine its system, BLM has started to ensure greater accuracy of the information in the system. GAO believes that these efforts are worthwhile and should be continued.

GAO found that: (1) in fiscal year (FY) 1991, BLM collected $2.2 million in grazing fees in Montana, part of which BLM distributed to state and local governments; (2) the BLM grazing fee collection and revenue distribution system provides reasonable assurance that BLM properly collects and distributes grazing fees and revenues; (3) BLM established Montana's grazing districts in accordance with the three categories established in federal law; (4) a comparison of the legal descriptions of the allotments in the BLM allotment files and the BLM land status maps indicates that BLM properly classified the lands; (5) when the data entered into the system were accurate, fee revenues were deposited into proper accounts and distributed correctly; (6) BLM has began to make system refinements to reduce the possibility of data entry errors; (7) BLM has made a good-faith effort to respond to requests by state officials for data that would enable Montana to more accurately distribute grazing fee payments to its counties; and (8) BLM has decided that it is inappropriate to provide Montana with data that would permit a reconciliation between the number of animal unit months grazed each year and the grazing fee payment Montana receives.