Summary
The September 11 terrorist attacks have heightened concerns about the security of the nation's icons and parks, which millions of people visit every year. The National Park Service (Park Service) within the Department of the Interior (Interior) is responsible for securing nearly 400 park units that include icons and other parks. In 2004, GAO identified a set of key protection practices that include: allocating resources using risk management, leveraging technology, information sharing and coordination, performance measurement and testing, and strategic management of human capital. As requested, GAO determined whether the Park Service's security efforts for national icons and parks reflected key practices. To meet this objective, GAO used its key practices as criteria, reviewed five icons and parks to gain firsthand knowledge, analyzed Interior documents, and interviewed Interior officials.
The Park Service has implemented a range of security improvements since the September 11 terrorist attacks and has worked to integrate security into its primary mission to preserve national icons and parks for the public's enjoyment. For example, it has established a senior-level security manager position and taken steps to strengthen security at the icons, and is developing a risk management program for small parks. These efforts exhibit some aspects of the key protection practices, but GAO found limitations in each of the areas. The Park Service does not allocate resources using risk management servicewide or cost-effectively leverage technology. While the Park Service, with assistance from Interior, has conducted risk assessments and implemented countermeasures to enhance security at the icons, some critical vulnerabilities remain. Moreover, the Park Service has not advanced this risk management approach for icons to the rest of its national parks. Without a servicewide risk management approach, the Park Service lacks assurance that security efforts are focused where they are needed. Furthermore, while icons and parks may use a variety of security technologies and other countermeasures, they do not have guidance for evaluating the cost-effectiveness of these investments, thus limiting assurances of efficiency and cost-effectiveness. Additionally, the Park Service faces limitations with sharing and coordinating information internally and lacks a servicewide approach for routine performance measurement and testing. Although the Park Service collaborates with external organizations, it lacks comparable arrangements for internal security communications and, as a result, parks are not equipped to share information with one another on common security problems and solutions. Furthermore, the Park Service has not established security performance measures and lacks an analysis tool that could be used to evaluate program effectiveness and inform an overall risk management strategy. Thus, icons and parks have little information on the status and performance of security that they can use to manage daily activities or that Park Service management can use to manage security throughout the organization. Finally, strategic human capital management is an area of concern because of the Park Service's lack of clearly defined security roles and a security training curriculum. For example, staff that are assigned security duties are generally not required to meet qualifications or undergo specialized training. Absent a security training curriculum, there is less assurance that staff are well-equipped to effectively identify and mitigate risks at national icons and parks.
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.
Director:
Team:
Phone:
Mark L. Goldstein
Government Accountability Office: Physical Infrastructure
(202) 512-6670
Recommendations for Executive Action
Recommendation: In order to better oversee and more efficiently manage the protection of the vast and diverse inventory of the national icons and parks, the secretary should instruct the Director of the National Park Service, in consulation with Office of Law Enforcement and Security (OLES), to develop and implement a more comprehensive, routine risk management approach for security that encompasses the Park Service's vast inventory of icons and parks, including developing guidance, standards, and procedures for conducting risk assessments at the icon and park level and for using the results to inform resource allocation decisions at the national, regional, icon, and park levels.
Agency Affected: Department of the Interior
Status: In process
Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Recommendation: In order to better oversee and more efficiently manage the protection of the vast and diverse inventory of the national icons and parks, the secretary should instruct the Director of the National Park Service, in consulation with OLES, to develop and implement guidance and standards for leveraging security technology, including how to assess the costs and benefits of countermeasure alternatives while taking into account risk management results.
Agency Affected: Department of the Interior
Status: In process
Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Recommendation: In order to better oversee and more efficiently manage the protection of the vast and diverse inventory of the national icons and parks, the secretary should instruct the Director of the National Park Service, in consulation with OLES, to develop and implement an internal communications strategy for security to address coordination gaps, including a timeline for the development of a servicewide Web portal for security.
Agency Affected: Department of the Interior
Status: In process
Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Recommendation: In order to better oversee and more efficiently manage the protection of the vast and diverse inventory of the national icons and parks, the secretary should instruct the Director of the National Park Service, in consulation with OLES, to develop and implement a servicewide performance management and testing program that includes specific measures and an evaluation component, which can be used to inform broader risk management decision-making and to assess security performance.
Agency Affected: Department of the Interior
Status: In process
Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Recommendation: In order to better oversee and more efficiently manage the protection of the vast and diverse inventory of the national icons and parks, the secretary should instruct the Director of the National Park Service, in consulation with OLES, to develop and implement a strategy for more clearly defining security roles and responsibilities within the Park Service, which should, among other things, ensure thatthe Park Service is well equipped at the national and regional levels to oversee security improvements.
Agency Affected: Department of the Interior
Status: In process
Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Recommendation: In order to better oversee and more efficiently manage the protection of the vast and diverse inventory of the national icons and parks, the secretary should instruct the Director of the National Park Service, in consulation with OLES, to develop and implement a servicewide security training program and related curriculum to provide staff with the knowledge, skills, and awareness needed to improve Park Service security practices.
Agency Affected: Department of the Interior
Status: In process
Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
