Reports

We investigated allegations that an Office of Service Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE) forester misused his position and violated ethics regulations. We found that the OSMRE forester violated ethics regulations when he promoted the use of a private company to State and Federal officials, which gave the appearance that the Government endorsed this company.

On March 27, 2020, the President signed into law the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act). Among its provisions, the CARES Act provided the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) with $756 million to support the needs of DOI programs, bureaus, Indian Country, and the Insular Areas. The DOI will award most of its CARES Act funding through contracts and financial assistance agreements (such as grants and cooperative agreements). Our past work demonstrates that these awards are a vulnerable area for the DOI.

In March 2020, the President signed into law the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) for response and relief related to COVID-19. The Act provided the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) with $756 million to support the Bureau of Reclamation, Insular Affairs, Indian Affairs, Indian Education, and Department operations. Oversight of the DOI’s CARES Act spending is critical to safeguard health and safety, water, and Indian education.

We investigated allegations that U.S. Fish and Wildlife (FWS) volunteers at Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge allowed guests to utilize Government housing, against FWS policy. We also investigated the circumstances surrounding the termination of two other volunteers from the refuge. We determined that two volunteers permitted guests to reside in Government housing on the refuge for several days, in violation of FWS policy and without authorization from refuge officials. We also found that refuge officials had a sufficient basis to terminate the two other volunteers from the refuge.

We reviewed actions the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) and three of its bureaus took during the longest partial Government shutdown in U.S. history (from December 22, 2018, through January 25, 2019). Our objective was to determine whether the three DOI bureaus—the National Park Service, the U.S.