Alleged Improper Award of FWS Grant to Partner Impact, LLC

We investigated a $256,100 single-source cooperative agreement that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s (FWS) International Affairs (IA) program awarded to a private company, Partner-Impact, LLC, to build a partnership strategy and marketing communication plan to reduce demand for illegal wildlife and wildlife products. Assistant IA Director Bryan Arroyo acknowledged that he preselected Partner-Impact to receive the funds and influenced his staff to disregard procurement policy and award a single-source cooperative agreement to the company. We also found that Partner-Impact did not complete most of the agreement’s requirements because Arroyo directed the company to assist another anti-wildlife-trafficking initiative instead.

 

We provided a report of our investigation to Michael Bean, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks, for review and action.