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OFFICE OF 

INSPECTOR GENERAL 

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Grants 

Awarded to the Commonwealth of Virginia,

Marine Resources Commission, From 

July 1, 2017, Through June 30, 2019, Under

the Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration 

Program

AUDIT

In recognition of Secretarial Order No. 3380, we are providing estimated costs 

associated with certain work products. Applying a formula involving prior salary 

and benefit expenses, we estimate the cost of preparing this report to be 

$127,000.

Report No.: 2020-ER-017 December 2020
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

OFFICE OF 

INSPECTOR GENERAL 

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Memorandum 

To: Aurelia Skipwith 

Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 

From: Nicki Miller 

Regional Manager, Eastern Region 

Subject: Final Audit Report – U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Grants Awarded to the 

Commonwealth of Virginia, Marine Resources Commission, From July 1, 2017, 

Through June 30, 2019, Under the Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program 

Report No. 2020-ER-017 

We audited the costs claimed by the Commonwealth of Virginia, Marine Resources 

Commission, under grants awarded by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) through the 

Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program. We conducted this audit to determine whether the 

Commission used grant funds and State fishing license revenue for allowable fish activities and 

complied with applicable laws and regulations, FWS guidelines, and grant agreements. The audit 

period included claims totaling $7.6 million on 22 grants that were open during the State fiscal 

years that ended June 30, 2018, and June 30, 2019. 

We found that the Commission ensured that grant funds and license revenue were used 

for allowable activities and complied with applicable laws and regulations, FWS guidelines, and 

grant agreements. We did not identify any reportable conditions. Background information and 

the objective, scope, and methodology for this audit can be found in the attachment. Due to the 

COVID-19 pandemic, we were unable to perform site visits during this audit. 

The legislation creating the Office of Inspector General requires that we report to 

Congress semiannually on all audit reports issued, actions taken to implement our 

recommendations, and recommendations that have not been implemented. 

We do not require a response. If you have any questions regarding this report, please 

contact me at 202-208-5745. 

Attachment 

Office of Audits, Inspections, and Evaluations | Herndon, VA 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Attachment: Background, Objective, Scope, and 

Methodology 

Background 

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) provides grants to States1 through its Wildlife and 

Sport Fish Restoration Program (WSFR) for the conservation, restoration, and management of 

wildlife and sport fish resources. WSFR was established by the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife 

Restoration Act and the Dingell-Johnson Sport Fish Restoration Act.2 The Acts and related 

Federal regulations allow the FWS to reimburse grantees a portion of eligible costs incurred 

under WSFR grants—up to 75 percent for States and up to 100 percent for the District of 

Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Northern 

Mariana Islands. The reimbursement amount is called the Federal share. The Acts require that 

hunting and fishing license revenue be used only for the administration of State fish and wildlife 

agencies. In addition, Federal regulations require States to account for any income earned from 

grant-funded activities and to spend this income before requesting grant reimbursements. 

Objective 

In June 2016, we entered into an intra-agency agreement with the FWS to conduct audits of State 

agencies receiving grant funds under WSFR. These audits fulfill the FWS’ statutory 

responsibility to audit State agencies’ use of these grant funds. 

The objective of this audit was to determine whether the Virginia Marine Resources Commission 

used grant funds and State fishing license revenue for allowable fish and wildlife activities and 

complied with applicable laws and regulations, FWS guidelines, and grant agreements. 

Scope 

We audited the Commission’s use of grants awarded by the FWS under WSFR. The audit period 

included claims totaling $7.6 million on 22 grants that were open during the State fiscal years 

(SFYs) that ended June 30, 2018, and June 30, 2019. 

Methodology 

We conducted this performance audit in accordance with generally accepted government 

auditing standards. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain 

sufficient, appropriate evidence to provide a reasonable basis for our findings and conclusions 

based on our audit objectives. Due to COVID-19 pandemic, we were unable to complete our 

audit site visits. We gathered data remotely from the Commission and its subrecipients and 

communicated with personnel via email and telephone. We could not perform equipment 

verification in person; therefore, we relied on photographs provided by the Commission. We 

1 The Acts define the term “State” to include the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin 

Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. 

2 Formally known, respectively, as the Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Act, 16 U.S.C. § 669, as amended, and the Federal 

Aid in Sport Fish Restoration Act, 16 U.S.C. § 777, as amended. 

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believe that the evidence obtained provides a reasonable basis for our findings and conclusions 

based on our audit objectives. 

We assessed whether internal control was significant to the audit objective. We determined that 

the Commission’s control activities and the following related principles were significant to the 

audit objectives: 

• Management should design control activities to achieve objectives and respond to risks

• Management should design the entity’s information system and related control activities

to achieve objectives and respond to risks

• Management should implement control activities through policies

We tested the operation and reliability of internal control over activities related to our audit 

objective. Our tests and procedures included: 

• Examining the evidence that supports selected expenditures charged to the grants by the

Commission

• Reviewing transactions related to purchases, direct costs, drawdowns of reimbursements,

in-kind contributions, and program income

• Interviewing Commission employees

• Inspecting equipment using photographic evidence

• Determining whether the Commission used fishing license revenue for the administration

of fish program activities

• Determining whether the Commonwealth passed required legislation assenting to the

provisions of the Acts

• Evaluating Commonwealth policies and procedures for assessing risk and monitoring

subawards

We conducted an exit conference on October 20, 2020, with the FWS and the Commission. 

During the conference, responsible officials were given the opportunity to provide their views on 

our results. 

Based on the results of our initial assessments, we assigned a level of risk and selected a 

judgmental sample of transactions for testing. We used auditor judgement and considered risk 

levels relative to other audit work performed to determine the degree of testing performed in 

each area. Our sample selections were not generated using statistical sampling, and therefore we 

did not project the results of our tests to the total population of transactions. We did not find 

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deficiencies in internal control. We believe that the evidence obtained provides a reasonable 

basis for our findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives. 

This audit supplements, but does not replace, the audits required by the Single Audit Act 

Amendments of 1996. Single audit reports address controls over Statewide financial reporting, 

with emphasis on major programs. Our report focuses on the administration of the Commission, 

and that agency’s management of WSFR resources and license revenue. 

The Commonwealth provided computer-generated data from its official accounting system and 

from informal management information and reporting systems. We tested the data by sampling 

expenditures and verifying them against WSFR reports and source documents such as purchase 

orders, invoices, and payroll documentation. While we assessed the accuracy of the transactions 

tested, we did not assess the reliability of the accounting system as a whole. 

Prior Audit Coverage 

OIG Audit Reports 

We reviewed our last two audits of costs claimed by the Commission on WSFR grants.3 There 

were no recommendations from these reports. 

State Audit Reports 

We reviewed the single audit reports for SFYs 2018 and 2019 to identify control deficiencies or 

other reportable conditions that affect WSFR. In those reports, the Schedule of Expenditures of 

Federal Awards indicated $10.3 million (combined) in Federal expenditures related to WSFR, 

but did not include any findings directly related to WSFR, which was not deemed a major 

program for Statewide audit purposes. Neither of these reports contained any findings that would 

directly affect the WSFR grants. 

3 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Sport Fish Restoration Program Grants Awarded to the Commonwealth of Virginia, Virginia 

Marine Resources Commission, From July 1, 2007, Through June 30, 2009 (Report No. R-GR-FWS-0008-2010), dated 

June 2010. 

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program Grants Awarded to the Commonwealth of Virginia, 

Virginia Marine Resources Commission, From July 1, 2012, Through June 30, 2014 (Report No. 2015-EXT-045), dated 

September 2015. 

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employees, and the general public. We 

actively solicit allegations of any 

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Office of Inspector General

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1849 C Street, NW. 

Washington, DC 20240