U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program Grants Awarded to the Government of Guam, Department of Agriculture, From October 1, 2014, through September 30, 2016

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 State fiscal years that ended September 30, 2015, and September 30, 2016. The audit also covered the Department’s compliance with applicable laws, regulations, and FWS guidelines, including those related to collecting and using hunting and fishing license revenues and reporting program income.We found that although the Department complied, in general, with applicable grant accounting and regulatory requirements, it had not 1) established sufficient internal controls over employee time reports, 2) submitted Federal Financial Reports in a timely manner, 3) limited the use of grant-funded vehicles to official business, and 4) maintained complete property records for assets acquired with grant funds or hunting and fishing license revenues. We also determined that Guam legislation could divert control of Program funds to the chief technology officer.In addition, we identified prior year grant fund expenditures of $139,764 that were related to Department administration building upgrades that will no longer benefit the Division, and that the relocation of the Division’s coordination staff from the administration building to the fisheries building negatively affects the authorized and original purpose of the fisheries building. Further, we found that the FWS failed to initiate and address, in a timely manner, the consultation processes regarding environmental compliance for the Program.