As a Bookkeeper, Park Service Is Lost in the Woods, GAO Says

Record-keeping was in such a mess at the National Park Service that congressional investigators found a vacuum cleaner valued on the agency’s books at $800,000 and a fire engine at one penny.

The Park Service doesn’t collect enough information to tell where its limited resources can be best spent to protect the federal property it oversees, according a report by the General Accounting Office, Congress’ investigating arm.

And when parks officials make policy improvements, they often can’t tell how effective they are, a GAO report said.

GAO investigator James Duffus III said in the report that four years after Congress enacted a law designed to ensure sound financial management by federal agencies, “the Park Service has made little progress in implementing its provisions.”

The agency was unable to provide auditable financial statements to the Interior Department’s Office of the Inspector General for fiscal years 1992, 1993 and 1994, said Joyce Fleischman, deputy inspector general.

“Overall, the information contained in the financial statements was not accurate, reliable or supported by the accounting system,” Fleischman said Thursday at a joint meeting of two House subcommittees overseeing the agency.

Park property values were overstated by more than $90 million because of accounting errors, she said.

“Examples of inaccurate data in the automated system were a vacuum cleaner worth $150 that was listed at over $800,000, a dishwasher worth $350 that was listed at over $700,000, a fire truck worth $133,000 that was listed at 1 cent and a mobile radio worth $793 that was listed at over $79 million,” she said.

Park Service spokeswoman Florence Six said Friday that many of the errors cited by the GAO resulted from computer software glitches and accounting changes. “We are working very hard to correct the problems,” the spokeswoman said.

Fleischman also said park officials appear to be well on their way to straightening out their records.

“We are encouraged by the commitment of the current director of the Park Service to devote the necessary resources to make needed changes,” she said.