Financial, Ethical, and Exclusive Use Concerns About NPS’ Agreement With the Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts

During our evaluation of whether the National Park Service (NPS) expended philanthropic partner funds in compliance with applicable policies, laws, and regulations, we identified concerns regarding the agreement between the NPS and the Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts, a nonprofit organization. We issued this report to advise the NPS of our concerns regarding the existing agreement (which expires in October 2018) as it negotiates a new agreement with the Foundation. The Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts in Vienna, VA, was established in 1966 and is the only national park that exists solely for the performing arts. The Foundation was created to manage performances at the Park. The NPS has an agreement with the Foundation that establishes responsibilities for both parties in management of the Park and the performances held there. We identified four areas of concern with the agreement between the NPS and the Foundation related to financial arrangements, ethics, and exclusive use. Specifically, we found that the Foundation still receives Federal funding even though it appears to be self-sufficient, gives free tickets to the Secretary of the Interior, does not contribute to deferred maintenance needs, has exclusive use of the Park without special-use permits, and used revenue from cellular towers placed in the Park to benefit its operations. We made six recommendations for the NPS to consider as it renegotiates the agreement. Based on the NPS’ response to our draft report, we consider Recommendations 1 – 3 and 5 resolved but not implemented, and Recommendations 4 and 6 unresolved and not implemented. We will refer all recommendations to the Office of Policy, Management and Budget for tracking.