Investigators with the U.S. Interior Department's Office of Inspector General (OIG) say in a report that they found alleged wrongdoing in the relationships between certain National Landscape Conservation System (NLCS) employees of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and anti-access groups, the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) reports.
The U.S. Interior Department's OIG referred its findings to the U.S. Attorney's Office for prosecution but was told, according to the OIG report of its investigation, that the law, Lobbying with Appropriated Monies, "has no criminal sanctions associated with it, and thus, declined to prosecute in lieu of administrative action."
The OIG then submitted its findings to BLM Director Robert Abbey for appropriate administrative action.
The investigation of the employees of the NLCS, which is responsible for conserving nationally significant landscapes, was initiated after BLM officials reviewed documents requested by Rep. Rob Bishop (R-Utah) and former Rep. Bill Sali (R-Idaho) in July and September of 2008, respectively. When the BLM found documents it believed showed inappropriate relationships with advocacy groups and possible violations of anti-lobbying laws and policies by the NLCS, it referred the matter to the OIG for investigation.
"Our investigation determined that numerous activities and communication took place between NLCS officials and nongovernmental organizations (NGO), including discussions about the NLCS budget and BLM editing brochures and producing fact sheets for a specific NGO," Mary Kendall, acting inspector general, said in a memorandum to Abbey received Oct. 2. "Our investigative efforts revealed that communication between NLCS and certain NGOs in these circumstances gave the appearance of federal employees being less than objective and created the potential for conflicts of interest or violations of law.
"We also uncovered a general disregard for establishing and maintaining boundaries among the various entities," Kendall wrote.
