Parks and Recreation: Resource Limitations Affect Condition of Forest Service Recreation Sites
RCED-91-48
Published: Jan 15, 1991. Publicly Released: Jan 23, 1991.
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Highlights
Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO assessed the Forest Service's maintenance of developed recreation sites, focusing on the: (1) extent and causes of the maintenance and reconstruction backlogs; (2) Service's site inventory system; and (3) effects of resource limitations on site maintenance.
Recommendations
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Department of Agriculture | To ensure that information is available to make informed decisions concerning the maintenance and reconstruction of developed recreation sites, the Secretary of Agriculture should direct the Chief, Forest Service, to develop and implement a servicewide system to accurately gather and record maintenance and reconstruction needs. To accomplish this, the Forest Service should establish a requirement to collect and record, at the district level, discrete site condition information, which when aggregated will yield reliable nationwide figures on maintenance and reconstruction needs. |
The system designed to collect discrete site condition information is complete. However, the system will operate only in selected regions. There is no Service-wide requirement that the system be implemented by all regions.
|
| Department of Agriculture | To ensure that information is available to make informed decisions concerning the maintenance and reconstruction of developed recreation sites, the Secretary of Agriculture should direct the Chief, Forest Service, to develop and implement a servicewide system to accurately gather and record maintenance and reconstruction needs. To accomplish this, the Forest Service should install internal controls and develop guidelines on how to ensure the accuracy of reported backlog data. |
The Forest Service continues to experience delays in developing its Service-wide system to gather and record maintenance and reconstruction needs. Because of these delays, the Forest Service has not yet specifically addressed what internal controls or guidelines will be installed to ensure data accuracy. Forest Service officials have stated that data accuracy remains a priority.
|
| Department of Agriculture | To ensure that information is available to make informed decisions concerning the maintenance and reconstruction of developed recreation sites, the Secretary of Agriculture should direct the Chief, Forest Service, to develop and implement a servicewide system to accurately gather and record maintenance and reconstruction needs. To accomplish this, the Forest Service should establish firm dates for completing the planned management information system being developed by the regions. |
Each region will complete its information system according to its local needs.
|
| Department of Agriculture | To ensure that information is available to make informed decisions concerning the maintenance and reconstruction of developed recreation sites, the Secretary of Agriculture should direct the Chief, Forest Service, to develop and implement a servicewide system to accurately gather and record maintenance and reconstruction needs. To accomplish this, the Forest Service should require all its regions, forests, and districts to implement the system being developed by the regions once it is completed. |
The Forest Service is not going to require any of the field offices to implement the "Field RIM" system. Rather, the agency believes that each region should implement a system that best meets its local needs.
|
| Department of Agriculture | To ensure that information is available to make informed decisions concerning the maintenance and reconstruction of developed recreation sites, the Secretary of Agriculture should direct the Chief, Forest Service, to develop and implement a servicewide system to accurately gather and record maintenance and reconstruction needs. To accomplish this, the Forest Service should group or rank the backlog of deferred maintenance and reconstruction by defined categories, so that funds can be allocated for those needs deemed to be of higher priority. |
The Forest Service will group the backlog by defined categories.
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Topics
Facility repairsFederal facilitiesFederal property managementForest managementMaintenance (upkeep)Maintenance costsManagement information systemsNational forestsNational recreation areasPublic visitor-centers