Summary

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO assessed the Forest Service's plans to acquire a $1.2-billion computer-based geographic information system (GIS) for its field sites nationwide.

GAO found that the Service: (1) was not ready to procure GIS nationwide; (2) did not analyze a full range of alternatives or adequately analyze alternatives for integrating GIS into its operations; (3) made assumptions that limited the alternatives it considered, and did not analyze the organizational impact of the alternatives; (4) did not estimate the dollar value of specific benefits it expected to achieve from GIS; and (5) did not adequately define its information and system performance needs. GAO believes that there is an increased and unnecessary risk that GIS will not result in a cost-effective system.