Meeting between GAO and NPS-NCR February 14, 2008

Meeting between GAO and NPS-NCR

February 14, 2008

Attendees:

Glenn Eugster

Frank Cook

Tony Padilla (by teleconference line)

Anne O’Neill

Dottie Marshall or her designee

Background:

• GAO is beginning a review of the National Park Service's management and use of 

donated funds, goods and services. 

• Our review was requested by the House Subcommittee on National Parks,

Forests, and Public Lands, Committee on Natural Resources.  

We agreed to examine:  

(1) the National Park Service’s policies and procedures for managing donated funds, goods, and services, and the

extent to which the agency has followed them; 

(2) how much the agency has received in donations in the past 10 years, how the donations have been used, and the extent to which the uses have been consistent with

approved plans; and 

(3) how, if at all, these donations have been used to address operations and maintenance needs of the National Park Service.  

In addition, we agreed to include Gettysburg National Military

Park in our review, and to examine issues associated with planning,

constructing, and operating the new museum and visitor center there.  We

visited Gettysburg in January and met with officials there.

Now we're contacting a few regional offices and planning for visits to

other parks to learn more about regional office roles and partnerships

elsewhere.  We look forward to speaking with you about the National

Capital region.

During our meeting, we'll ask questions such as, 

1. What is the general scope of the regional partnership responsibilities and,

1. What is the general, overall level of partnership project activity in your region? 

1. What data does NPS track at the regional level regarding receipt and use of donations?  

1. How do NPS and its partners determine which efforts to undertake?  

1. Also, we are always interested in concrete examples about past or current partnerships, projects, and activities, as well as any supporting documents that you can share with us.  

You may reach me at:

• my desk (202-512-2979) or
• cell phone (406-570-1731) if you have any questions or concerns before our meeting time.  

Tony Padilla, senior analyst from our Denver office,

will join us by telephone.  

• As we discussed, it would be great if someone from the regional budget group could join our discussion.  

I will see you at 1100 Ohio Street (NPS offices) at 11 a.m. this

Thursday.  Thanks again and we look forward to speaking with you!