Government Accountability Office Study of the National Park Service Donations

April 7, 2008

Memorandum

To: National Leadership Council

           

From: Associate Director

Partnerships and Visitor Experience  

Subject: Government Accountability Office Study of the National Park Service Donations

On November 13, 2007, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) initiated a review of the National Park Service's (NPS) management and use of donated funds, and contributed goods and services.  The review was requested by the House Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests, and Public Lands, Committee on Natural Resources.  The GAO plans to examine:

1. The NPS’s policies and accounting procedures managing donations and contributions, and the extent to which the agency has followed them;

2. How much the agency has received in donations and contributions in the past 10 years, how the funds and services have been used, and the extent to which the uses have been consistent with approved plans; and

3. How, if at all, these funds and services have been used to address operations and maintenance needs of the NPS.

In addition, the GAO was asked to include Gettysburg National Military Park in their review, and to examine issues associated with planning, constructing, and operating the new museum and visitor center.

The GAO is still in the data gathering/job design phase of this project.  Their team, based in the GAO’s Denver Field Office, has been contacting NPS staff in the Washington Office and Regional Partnership Coordinators to obtain insight on which a combination of regions, parks, donations, partners, and projects or other activities should be visited/studied by the GAO team, what issues they should consider focusing on, and which NPS officials or partners GAO should talk to as they go forward.

I want you to know about this study because they will be conducting park visits this spring and any or all of you may be impacted by their investigation.  The GAO has made site visits to Gettysburg NMP and to Rocky Mountain NP thus far.  They have attended the national conference of the Association of Partners for Public Lands and plan to attend the April 17, 2008, meeting of the National Park Friends Alliance, which will be held at Cuyahoga Valley National Park.  Most recently, they have shown interest in the Grand Teton National Park.

Christy Feehan is the Senior Analyst in charge of the study for GAO.  She can be reached at (303) 572-7354.  For additional information on GAO’s study, please contact John Piltzecker, Program Manager, Partnership Office at (202) 354-2150.