Fish and Wildlife Service: Weaknesses in the Management of the Endangered Species Program Workload at the Carlsbad, California Field Office

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the implementation of the Endangered Species Act by the Fish and Wildlife Service's (FWS) field office in Carlsbad, California, focusing on: (1) how the Carlsbad office tracks its workload of consultations and habitat conservation plans (HCP); (2) to what extent the office is complying with FWS guidelines for completing formal consultations and HCP processing; and (3) the causes for delay when time frames are exceeded.