As the new Director of the Bureau of Land Management, I am proud to present this report of our accomplishments for 1997. Working hand-in-hand with our partners and customers, we have moved forward on many fronts to restore and maintain the health of America's public lands.
One of the highlights has been the hard work and accomplishments of the 24 Resource Advisory Councils established throughout the western States. These Councils provide a forum for local citizens to sit down together and resolve local issues in a spirit of cooperation and good will.
The Resource Advisory Councils have all developed standards and guidelines to focus BLM's efforts in achieving healthy rangelands. The Bureau is now moving to implement these standards, which, over time, should improve the condition of America's rangelands.
It's heartening to see ranchers, suburban environmentalists, and others working alongside each other as partners to improve the health of our Nation's rangelands and maintain the vast open spaces and vistas that define the American West. This maintenance of rangeland health and open spaces also benefits urban recreationists and local rural economies. Everyone gains when people work together.
Our multiple-use mandate puts us in an ideal position to facilitate the work of Resource Advisory Councils and similar efforts. Starting with sometimes diverse viewpoints and perspectives, we can work with others to help shape agreement on principles and on-the-ground actions. Throughout this report, you will read about some of the hundreds of partnerships we rely on to carry out our stewardship responsibilities for 264 million acres of public lands. We thank all of you who worked alongside us this past year and pledge to continue expanding our efforts to work with and for the American public.
Another major accomplishment in 1997 was the completion of our Strategic Plan, which will help us focus our efforts over the next 3 to 5 years. This plan--along with our new performance plan, performance indicators, internal evaluation process, and customer survey efforts--will help ensure that we are accountable for real-world results. We fully intend to "walk our talk" as public servants and public land stewards.
Again, our thanks to all of the customers, partners, volunteers, and others who have helped us in our efforts to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of our public lands. We look forward to continuing to earn your trust and respect and to serving your needs while overseeing the priceless heritage that our public lands and resources represent.
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) issued its first audited financial statements at the end of fiscal year 1991 and received unqualified ("clean") audit opinions for fiscal years 1995 and 1996. We are very proud of our progress in achieving these milestones, and I am pleased to report that we again have received an unqualified audit opinion on our financial statements for FY 1997. These opinions reflect the importance and priority we place on our stewardship responsibilities and our commitment to sound financial management.
Leading the list of this year's accomplishments, the BLM has finalized its first Bureauwide Strategic Plan as required by the Government Performance and Results Act. This plan was developed and refined by numerous headquarters and field office employees and will guide BLM's efforts over the next 3 to 5 years. In addition, the Bureau is completing its first annual performance plan with its associated performance measures.
As part of our strategic goal to improve our business systems, we are continuing development of an overarching Management Information System to provide decision makers and resource managers throughout the Bureau with relevant, current business and financial information in an easy-to-understand format. BLM automation experts and field users/advisors are rapidly moving toward implementation of a financial data system prototype based on a data warehousing concept. The end result will be readily available and easier-to-use business information for managers and employees at all levels of the Bureau, as well as a valuable new tool for meeting the substantially increased regulatory requirements placed on the agency.
The Bureau is also redesigning its process for acquiring goods and services. In a typical year, the Bureau completes 120,000 separate transactions and spends roughly $180 million to obtain the supplies, equipment, and services vital to achieving the agency's mission and conducting business. Despite this heavy workload, the number of BLM employees who specialize in procurement work has plummeted from 214 to just 156 Bureauwide.
With everyone already having more than enough work to do, working harder was not an option, so BLM's procurement community decided to work smarter instead. The result is a redesign of the Bureau's acquisition process, with innovative ways of thinking and doing business being the rule, not the exception. Highlights of the redesigned acquisition program include:
Taken together, these and other initiatives will make life much easier for both BLM employees and our many vendors, as well as improving the quality of the goods and services we receive. We project internal cost avoidance of about $1 million, as well as savings of an estimated $12 million on the cost of goods and services by the year 2000. And these savings represent dollars that can be redirected to our basic mission responsibilities.
As one of 32 designated Reinvention Impact Centers in the Federal government, the BLM has committed to two challenging goals that will improve service to the American public and require close cooperation with both the Forest Service and National Park Service:
The second goal is also known as the Trading Post initiative. BLM and Forest Service offices at several Colorado and Oregon locations have already combined their resources and functions under one roof to better serve the public.
Finally, we in the Bureau are refining our customer research methodology and applications to strengthen our ability to work with our partners and serve our customers. We are also piloting a new approach to conducting internal evaluations based on preventing problems rather than detecting them after the fact. This redesigned evaluation process, known as the Accountability and Validation System, will build efficiency, effectiveness, and accountability into all of the Bureau's work processes.
