OVERALL, THE GENERAL ACCOUNTING OFFICE (GAO) FOUND THAT CS WAS SLOW IN (1) DEVELOPING THE ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE FOR THE ASSISTANT SECRETARY'S OFFICE, (2) STAFFING KEY POSITIONS, AND (3) IMPLEMENTING A MANAGEMENT SYSTEM TO CARRY OUT CONSERVATION PROGRAMS. IN THE FIRST CASE, DELAYS IN CONFIRMING THE ASSISTANT SECRETARY'S NOMINATION NO DOUBT ADVERSELY AFFECTED EFFORTS TO SHAPE CS ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE. IN THE SECOND CASE, CS OFFICIALS MAINTAIN THAT THAY HAVE BEEN UNABLE TO INCREASE PERSONNEL STRENGTH BECAUSE THERE HAS NOT BEEN AN APPROVED ORGANIZATIONAL PLAN BY WHICH POSITIONS CAN BE DESCRIBED, CLASSIFIED, AND ADVERTISED, AND A FEDERAL HIRING FREEZE WAS IN EFFECT BETWEEN OCTOBER 1978 AND FEBRUARY 1979. IN ADDITION, CS MUST PREPARE JOB DESCRIPTIONS AND CLASSIFY THE POSITIONS OCCUPIED BY ITS CURRENT 365 EMPLOYEES. ALTHOUGH, CS HOPES TO COMPLETE THESE TASKS BY SEPTEMBER 1979, CS DID EVEN APPROVE A COMPLETE ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE, INCLUDING MISSION AND FUNCTION STATEMENTS, FOR THE ENTIRE CS ORGANIZATION BY MAY 1979. IN THE THIRD CASE, NO OVERALL MANAGEMENT SYSTEM EXISTS IN THE CS ORGANIZATION FOR PLANNING, FOR REPORTS, OR FOR MONITORING PROJECTS. NO EMPHASIS HAS BEEN PLACED ON LONG-RANGE PLANNING, MULTIYEAR PLANNING, OR A UNIFORM SYSTEM FOR SELECTING PROJECTS TO BE FUNDED BY CS PROGRAM ORGANIZATIONS. CS PROMISES TO IMPLEMENT A SYSTEM OF LONG-RANGE PLANS AND ANNUAL OPERATING PLANS FOR EACH PROGRAM OFFICE BY SEPTEMBER 1979. GAO FEELS THAT ALL THESE DELAYS COULD HAVE BEEN AVOIDED BY TOP MANAGEMENT ACTION, ESPECIALLY AT THE UNDER SECRETARY LEVEL, AND SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN DEPENDENT ON THE TARDY CONFIRMATION OF AN ASSISTANT SECRETARY. GAO RECOMMENDS THAT PRIORITY ATTENTION BE GIVEN TO FINALIZING THE ORGANIZATION STRUCTURE OF THE CS OFFICE OF THE ASSISTANT SECRETARY, TO CLASSIFYING AND STAFFING THE POSITIONS IN THE ASSISTANT SECRETARY'S OFFICE, AND TO DEVELOPING A MANAGEMENT SYSTEM TO MANAGE THE OFFICE'S PROGRAMS. CS OFFICIALS ARE IN GENERAL AGREEMENT WITH GAO'S FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS. (MHP)