Department of the Interior

We completed a verification review of Recommendations 1, 3, 4, and 5, presented in our evaluation report, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Management of Oil and Gas Activities on Refuges (CR-EV-FWS-0002-2014), issued March 1, 2015. Our objective for this review was to determine whether the U.S. Fish...

The OIG audited the costs claimed by the Government of Guam’s Department of Agriculture under grants awarded by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) through the Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program. The audit included claims totaling $4.6 million on 31 grants that were open during the...

OIG investigated allegations that an Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE) employee stole government equipment and committed time and attendance fraud.We determined the employee stole two stereoscopes and a mapping tool from OSMRE and that the equipment was obsolete and valued...

OIG’s audit of grants to New York’s State Department of Environmental Conservation, Division of Fish and Wildlife, included claims totaling approximately $171 million on 19 grants that were open during the State fiscal years that ended March 31, 2015, and March 31, 2016. The audit also covered the...

The OIG investigated allegations that the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM’s) Wyoming State Office (WYSO) had entered into an unneeded contract for oil-and-gas-record digitization services, had improperly selected the contractor, and had improperly carried the funds for the digitization project...

OIG investigated discrepancies identified after the National Park Service (NPS) conducted an electronic audit of the fee collection software at the Petrified Forest National Park (PEFO), located in eastern Arizona, which compared cash collected at the park with cash deposits made into the bank.Our...

OIG investigated allegations that an employee at the Office of the Special Trustee for American Indians (OST) lied about her cancer diagnosis, forged medical records, falsified documents, and abused her own sick leave and leave donated by coworkers.Our investigation confirmed the allegations. We...

OIG investigated allegations that the United Mine Workers of America Health and Retirement Funds (UMWAF) was not adhering to Federal law and regulations concerning three federally supported health benefit plans. According to the allegations, the UMWAF enrolled beneficiaries in the combined benefit...

The OIG and the FBI jointly investigated allegations that two employees stole school funds from the Shonto Preparatory School (SPS) in Arizona, which is funded by grants from the Bureau of Indian Education.The investigation determined that former SPS Business Manager Felicia Barlow stole $20,430.87...

We evaluated the Department to determine whether it effectively follows the incident response lifecycle, as defined by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). We found that the Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO) had not fully implemented the capabilities recommended by...