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GAO-07-829R 1 (2007-06-29)

handle is hein.gao/gaocrptavjx0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Sai Accountability * Integrity * Reliability United States Government Accountability Office Washington, DC 20548 June 29, 2007 The Honorable Nick J. Rahall, II Chairman Committee on Natural Resources House of Representatives The Honorable Madeleine Z. Bordallo Chairwoman Subcommittee on Fisheries Wildlife and Oceans Committee on Natural Resources House of Representatives The Honorable Ron Kind House of Representatives Subject: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service: Opportunities Remain to Improve Oversight and Management of Oil and Gas Activities on National Wildlife Refuges The mission of the Department of the Interior's Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) includes administering a national network of refuges for the conservation, management, and, where appropriate, restoration of fish, wildlife, and plant resources and their habitats within the United States for the benefit of present and future generations. The refuges are unique in that they are the only federal lands managed primarily for the benefit of wildlife. The refuge system's 95 million acres, which represent more than 14 percent of all federal lands and are found in every state, include land that has always been federally owned and land that has been acquired from others. While the federal government owns almost all of the surface lands in the system, in many cases it does not own the subsurface mineral rights. Subject to some restrictions, owners of subsurface mineral rights have the legal authority to explore for mineral resources such as oil and gas and to extract resources that are found. In August 2003, we reported that oil and gas activities were occurring on many wildlife refuges and that little was known about the effects of those activities on refuge resources. Specifically, we reported that 155 of the 575 FWS-managed refuges had past or current oil and gas exploration, production, or pipeline activities, including over 1,800 active and 2,600 inactive oil and gas wells. While available studies, anecdotal information, and our observations indicated that environmental damage had occurred, FWS had not assessed the cumulative environmental effects of oil and gas activities on refuge resources. We also reported that FWS oversight of oil and gas activities needed improvement, in part because of uncertainties related to FWS's authority to require oil 1GAO, National Wildlife Refuges: Opportunities to Improve the Management and Oversight of Oil and Gas Activities on Federal Lands, G'AO- ) -517 (Washington, D.C.: August 28, 2003). GAO-07-829R Oil and Gas Activities on National Wildlife Refuges

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