Federal Lands: Adopting a Formal, Risk-Based Approach Could Help Land Management Agencies Better Manage Their Law Enforcement Resources
GAO-11-144
Published: Dec 17, 2010. Publicly Released: Dec 17, 2010.
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Highlights
Four federal agencies--the Forest Service in the Department of Agriculture and the Bureau of Land Management, Fish and Wildlife Service, and National Park Service in the Department of the Interior--are responsible for managing federal lands, enforcing federal laws governing the lands and their resources, and ensuring visitor safety. Illegal activities occurring on these lands have raised concerns that the four agencies are becoming less able to protect our natural and cultural resources and ensure public safety. GAO examined (1) the types of illegal activities occurring on federal lands and the effects of those activities on natural and cultural resources, the public, and agency employees; (2) how the agencies have used their law enforcement resources to respond to these illegal activities; and (3) how the agencies determine their law enforcement resource needs and distribute these resources. GAO reviewed agency documents, interviewed agency officials, and visited or contacted 26 selected agency units.
Recommendations
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Department of the Interior | To help the agencies identify the law enforcement resources they need and how to distribute these resources effectively, the Secretaries of Agriculture and the Interior should direct the Chief of the Forest Service and the Directors of the Bureau of Land Management, Fish and Wildlife Service, and National Park Service, respectively, to each take the following action: Adopt a risk management approach to systematically assess and address threats and vulnerabilities presented by illegal activities on federal lands. The approach can vary among the agencies but should be consistent within each agency and should include (1) conducting periodic risk assessments to identify and rank threats and assess agency vulnerabilities and (2) establishing a structured process for using the results of these assessments to set priorities for and distribute law enforcement resources to best protect natural and cultural resources, as well as public and agency employee safety. In developing a risk management approach, the agencies should consider conducting the risk assessments at regional or state levels and using those assessments to inform decisions about law enforcement resource needs and how to distribute those resources across the country. | Based in part on our recommendations, the National Park Service, the Bureau of Land Management, and the Fish and Wildlife Service took several steps to strengthen their law enforcement programs. In November 2009, the National Park Service contracted with ICF International to evaluate the Visitor Management and Resource Protection Assessment Program (VRAP), a tool which guided staffing allocation for various park protection positions including law enforcement. In April 2011, an ICF report identified several weaknesses in VRAP and made recommendations on how VRAP could be improved. To address VRAP's weaknesses, the National Park Service released a new tool developed by ICF called the... Staffing Analysis and Risk Reduction Tool (STARTT). Among other improvements, superintendents can use STARTT to identify potential risks to law enforcement, safety, resource protection and infrastructure protection if planned staffing levels are below STARTT's estimated staffing needs. Prior to STARTT's release, NPS developed a user's handbook to assist with training and implementation, and piloted the tool in 25 parks. In March 2012, the Bureau of Land Management issued a memorandum to all law enforcement field officials requiring that risk management be incorporated into state and field office Law Enforcement Plans. To implement this requirement, the Bureau of Land Management developed the Law Enforcement Integrated Risk Rating Tool (LEIRRT), developed a user guide for the tool, and trained law enforcement staff and managers on how to complete the tool and use it for decisionmaking. The LEIRRT assigns risk scores for nine risk factors--including fire, drug production, and illegal border activities--and weighs and aggregates the scores to develop a final risk determination for each factor. The resulting scores can be used to incorporate risk into state and field office Law Enforcement Plans including law enforcement staffing. In fiscal year 2013, all Bureau of Land Management all state and field offices were required to upload completed LEIRRTs to the Bureau's Office of Law Enforcement and Security. In addition, starting in 2011, the Fish and Wildlife Service began developing a risk-based approach deployment and staffing model. As part of this, the Fish and Wildlife Service has been working on a risk intelligence staffing calculator (RISC) that will, among other things, identify risks that illegal and legal activities pose to natural and cultural resources, assess the magnitude of those risks and likelihood of occurrence, prioritize risks for preventative control actions, and restructure and strengthen the staffing and deployment model to integrate risk assessment requirements. This calculator is being fined tuned using data supplied by officers in all eight Fish and Wildlife Service regions. These efforts will ultimately culminate with a new staffing model for law enforcement.
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| Department of Agriculture | To help the agencies identify the law enforcement resources they need and how to distribute these resources effectively, the Secretaries of Agriculture and the Interior should direct the Chief of the Forest Service and the Directors of the Bureau of Land Management, Fish and Wildlife Service, and National Park Service, respectively, to each take the following action: Adopt a risk management approach to systematically assess and address threats and vulnerabilities presented by illegal activities on federal lands. The approach can vary among the agencies but should be consistent within each agency and should include (1) conducting periodic risk assessments to identify and rank threats and assess agency vulnerabilities and (2) establishing a structured process for using the results of these assessments to set priorities for and distribute law enforcement resources to best protect natural and cultural resources, as well as public and agency employee safety. In developing a risk management approach, the agencies should consider conducting the risk assessments at regional or state levels and using those assessments to inform decisions about law enforcement resource needs and how to distribute those resources across the country. | Based in part on our recommendations, the Forest Service took several steps to strengthen its law enforcement program. First, in November 2013, Forest Service updated the template that its regional offices use for law enforcement planning. The template includes sections on identifying and ranking risks and vulnerabilities. Regions are required to assess circumstances in their region using the template and are expected to review the plans annually and update them as needed. As of July 2014, at least four of the agency's nine regions had submitted plans based on the template. Second, the agency also strengthened the process it uses for the Washington Office to determine if shifts in...
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CrimesFederal agenciesFederal property managementForest managementLand managementLaw enforcementLaw enforcement agenciesNational forestsNational parksNatural resource managementNatural resourcesNeeds assessmentPublic landsRisk assessment