Summary: The federal government owns and manages about 650 million acres of land in the United States--more than one quarter of the nation's total land area. Ninety-six percent of the federal land is managed by four agencies: the National Park Service, the Fish and Wildlife Service, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), and the Forest Service. In fiscal year 1995, the four agencies employed more than 75,000 full-time equivalent employees. Combined, the agencies received new budget authority in excess of $8 billion. They provide some of their employees with rental housing, authority to use the agencies' vehicles, and allowances to buy uniforms. The agencies also encourage and pay for some employees to move to different geographic locations during their careers. This report compares the four agencies' policies and practices relating to (1) the reasons for and the costs of field-unit managers' geographic relocations; (2) the authorization for and the quantity and condition of employees' rental housing; (3) the requirements for providing employees' uniforms and expenditures for them; and (4) the authorizations for employees' home-to-work travel in agency vehicles. GAO also compares the processes by which BLM and the Forest Service issue grazing permits and highlights the similarities and differences between the two agencies' grazing programs.
