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Restoring the Everglades: Public Participation in Federal Efforts

RCED-96-5 Published: Oct 24, 1995. Publicly Released: Oct 24, 1995.
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Highlights

Pursuant to congressional requests, GAO reviewed: (1) federal efforts to involve nonfederal stakeholders in environmental restoration efforts in South Florida; and (2) the lessons learned about federal and nonfederal collaboration and consensus-building in South Florida that might be applicable elsewhere.

Recommendations

Recommendations for Executive Action

Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of the Interior The Secretary of the Interior should direct the Interagency Task Force on the South Florida Ecosystem to develop a strategy to extend formal participation in its working group and subgroups to local officials and representatives of South Florida's nongovernmental interests, including landowners, farmers, sportsmen, commercial fishermen, developers, and environmental organizations. One alternative would be to establish a citizens' advisory group to formally participate in the task force's effort and to promote public involvement and outreach. The task force should include its planned strategy in its next annual report.
Closed – Implemented
In a June 14, 1996, letter to GAO, the Department of the Interior's Assistant Secretary for Fish, Wildlife and Parks stated that the Department accepted GAO's recommendations and had indicated a projected time line and responsible official to implement them. Specific actions include: (1) developing a strategy to extend formal participation in the task force's working group and subgroups to local officials and representatives of South Florida's nongovernmental interests within 6 months; and (2) including a section describing the effort and its status in the task force's next annual report.
Interagency Task Force on the South Florida Ecosystem If the task force finds that formal participation by nongovernmental interests in federal restoration efforts continues to be limited by Executive Order 12838 and by the difficulty of determining when federal parties can meet with nongovernmental parties without being required to charter an advisory committee under the Federal Advisory Committee Act, the task force should inform the General Services Administration's Committee Management Secretariat of the impact the two constraints are having on collaboration and consensus-building between federal and nonfederal parties and suggest alternatives to increase participation by nongovernmental interests.
Closed – Implemented
In his June 14, 1996, letter to GAO, Interior's Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks stated that the Department will address any obstacles in achieving the strategy to extend formal participation in the task force's working group and subgroups to local officials and representatives of South Florida's nongovernmental interests to the General Services Administration's Committee Management Secretariat to seek its advice and guidance.

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Advisory committeesConservationEnvironmental monitoringEnvironmental policiesstate relationsInteragency relationsLand managementNational parksNatural resourcesPublic relations