Strengthening the Accountability of Indian and Island Community Programs

GAO has identified a number of long-standing financial and programmatic deficiencies in Interior’s Indian and Island Community programs.

• While Interior has taken significant steps in the last 10 years to address weaknesses in certain Indian programs, it is still in the process of implementing key trust fund reforms, including preparation of a timetable for completing remaining activities, to effectively manage more than 300,000 trust fund accounts with assets of more than $3 billion. Further, in the department’s consolidated financial statements, the management of Indian trust funds continues to be reported as a material internal control weakness.

  Highlights of GAO-07-104 (PDF)

• GAO has also reported on serious delays in the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ (BIA) program for determining whether the department will accept land in trust—as of the end of fiscal year 2005, more than 1,000 land in trust applications from tribes and individual Indians were pending. While BIA generally followed its regulations for processing land in trust applications, it had no deadlines for making decisions on them.

  Highlights of GAO-06-781 (PDF)

• In addition, the department could be doing more to assist the island communities of American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the three sovereign island nations with long-standing financial and program management difficulties in accurately accounting for expenditures, collecting taxes and other revenues, controlling the level of expenditures, and delivering program services—all of which resulted in numerous federal agencies designating some of the governments as “high-risk” grantees. Further, the department faces challenges in addressing the failing economy in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and assisting Guam in preparing for the anticipated expansion of military personnel.

  Highlights of GAO-08-655 (PDF), Highlights of GAO-08-466 (PDF), Full Report of GAO-07-514R (PDF, 74 pages), Highlights of GAO-08-791 (PDF), Highlights of GAO-07-163 (PDF), Highlights of GAO-07-119 (PDF), Highlights of GAO-08-732 (PDF), Highlights of GAO-07-513 (PDF), Highlights of GAO-06-590 (PDF)

^ Back to topWhat Needs to Be Done

To improve the timeliness and transparency and ensure better management of BIA’s land in trust process, the Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs should move forward with adopting revisions to the land in trust regulations that include

• specific time frames for BIA to make a decision once an application is complete, and
• guidelines for providing state and local governments with more information on the applications and a longer period of time to provide meaningful comments on the applications.

Highlights of GAO-06-781 (PDF)

To address economic, fiscal, and financial accountability challenges faced by the insular area governments, the Assistant Secretary for Insular Affairs should

• coordinate with other federal grant-making agencies,
• conduct periodic evaluations and create a framework for conducting site visits, and
• implement procedures to help insular areas resolve audit findings and achieve clean audit opinions. 

Highlights of GAO-07-119 (PDF)

^ Back to topKey Reports

U.S. Insular Areas

Indian Issues

Indian Issues

Indian Irrigation Projects

Compacts of Free Association

Compacts of Free Association

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