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Show limited administrative flexibility must be provided in order to accelerate the disposal and acquisition processes and reduce their costs. However, we recognize that Federal officials occupy positions of public trust which require constant attention to the protection of the public's interest. Providing for formal findings will assure that there is a documented basis on which the formal appraisal is waived. In those instances where the Commission recommends that the public lands and their resources be made available for less than full value, formal appraisal need be made only where price is to be determined in relationship to value. Administration of Acquisition Programs Recommendation 128: Administration of all land acquisition programs for Department of the Interior agencies, including performance of the appraisal function, should be consolidated within the Department. Procedures, however, should be standardized for all public land management agencies. We do not believe it necessary or feasible to centralize all Federal department and agency acquisition and appraisal programs in one place. But we believe that it is logical to consolidate such functions within the department having the largest public land management responsibilities; and that acquisition and appraisal practices and procedures should be standardized throughout all public land management agencies. Consolidation The problems and the personnel skills involved in the land acquisition and exchange programs of the four principal public land management agencies, i.e., Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife, and the Forest Service, are substantially identical. The Bureau of Reclamation may also be included in this group. Nevertheless, each agency pursues its own land acquisition program with its own staff. Significant economies and efficiency would likely be obtained by consolidation of the acquisition function within the Department. As the lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management more and more become trading stock for acquisition programs of other Interior agencies, increasing problems of interagency coordination, duplication of effort, and program conflicts are arising. The Point Reyes National Seashore acquisition program illustrates this problem. Similarly, since most recent exchange statutes authorize the Secretary of the Interior to exchange any land under his jurisdiction, without regard to subsidiary agency jurisdiction, land acquisition is becoming more a department-wide concern than has been true historically. We believe it is desirable to limit consolidation to the acquisition programs of the public land management agencies concerned with essentially "wild lands." Acquisition of developed lands and buildings, such as are carried out by the General Services Administration and, in some instances, the Corps of Engineers, is different enough to be left to the individual agencies or perhaps centralized elsewhere. The consolidation of acquisition functions we recommend would not dilute the agencies' management responsibility. Determinations of land needs, in accordance with standards established by statute, would still reside with the management agencies. Only the actual acquisition process would be carried out by a central agency. We view the appraisal function as an integral part of the acquisition procedure. It should, therefore, logically be placed organizationally in the same place. Further, centralization of the appraisal function would have the advantage of creating a single focal point to assure uniformity within the Department of the Interior and greater surveillance through exercise of the review function. It would also provide benefit to both the Government and employees in the development of career appraisers, thereby assuring greater continuity of expertise and incentive to the employees. Inasmuch as the same personnel make appraisals for both acquisition and disposal, it is not intended to exclude appraisers for other purposes in the consolidated unit merely because we have joined the recommendation with the one for centralization of the acquisition function. Standardization Without going into the details of any particular proposal, we favor the enactment of legislation to establish uniform acquisition procedures, including uniform negotiating practices. Throughout our review and in this report we have had uppermost in our minds the need for Government to treat its citizens fairly. It is particularly appropriate here to express our view that representatives of the Government should never use their positions of power to take advantage of those with whom they have dealings. This is essential when they seek to negotiate the acquisition of land-whether it is through direct purchase, exchange, or in eminent domain proceedings. The Commission endorses the efforts of the Department of Justice in organizing and conducting an Interagency Land Acquisition Conference in order to 273 |
