U S Government Accountability Office

Government reorganization U S Government Accountability Office

" NMFS and FWS have primary federal responsibility for managing fish and wildlife. The missions of NMFS and FWS have some broad similarities, which have prompted long-standing questions about whether merging the agencies would improve the efficiency or effectiveness of their programs. This report examines (1) the extent to which NMFS and FWS share key programmatic responsibilities, (2) potential benefits and drawbacks identified by agency officials and stakeholders of merging NMFS into FWS, and (3) potential benefits and drawbacks identified by agency officials and stakeholders of alternative organizational options. To address these issues, GAO reviewed agency documents and conducted 97 semistructured interviews with current and former agency officials and a wide array of the agencies' stakeholders, including organizations representing fishing and conservation interests. GAO performed a content analysis of interview responses. GAO is not making any recommendations. This report presents information that Congress and the administration could consider in determining whether to reorganize federal fish and wildlife agencies. GAO provided a draft of this report for review and comment to the Departments of Commerce and the Interior. Commerce provided technical comments that were incorporated, as appropriate. Interior did not provide comments."