Chapter II - Review of Wildlife EIS Process 



memos to Helena. The bulk of the analysis work and report writing was 

 completed during this time. 



Most of the work on the EIS project involved committees and teams. 

 This type of work allows sharing of knowledge and brainstorming 

 capability but it can also slow the process down. It often takes extra 

 time to schedule and reschedule meetings to meet staff commitments, to 

 travel to meetings, to reach consensus, to handle personaUty differences, 

 to coordinate work, and to report on results. Conflicts and 

 disagreements among team members over how to conduct the EIS also 

 hindered the work on the project. 



EIS Approach Revisions 





Conclusion 



Several people we interviewed indicated that from the beginning, the 

 project did not have a well-defined "purpose and need" statement. This 

 probably contributed to some of the early confusion on the project and 

 to the initial direction taken by the team. As previously discussed, the 

 first EIS approach did not work. The frustrations of the process are 

 shown in a February 28, 1994, memo from the Wildlife Division 

 administrator to the director. The memo includes the statement: "The 

 fimction of the (EIS Project) seems unclear ... there is not a consensus 

 among those closest to the project ~ the EIS Team and steering 

 committee ~ about the best approach to finish the project and what the 

 expected outcomes are." This was after the department had spent 

 approximately three years on the project. The EIS approach then went 

 through several revisions to arrive at an approach that could be accepted 

 in the regional ofiBces and by upper management. It was a time- 

 consuming process to finally get to this point in late 1995 and early 

 1996. Again, some of the factors discussed above related to project 

 administration also contributed to this long timeframe. 



As indicated in our audit objectives, we were primarily concerned with 

 examining why the EIS project had an extended timeframe. Timelines 

 can be important when considering such issues as pubhc involvement. 

 As noted by the department, some of their reasons for conducting the 

 EIS involved changing pubhc values and demand for pubhc 

 involvement. It has been over six years since the department held its 

 initial pubhc scoping meetings in Jime 1992. Since this was the 

 department's first programmatic EIS, it is reasonable to allow for a 



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