A new report from Congress鈥檚 watchdog says employees overseeing public lands are facing hundreds of threats and assaults.

The Government Accountability Office there were at least 360 assaults or threats on federal public lands employees between 2013 and 2017. That鈥檚 including workers at the Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Forest Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Park Service. The incidents ranged from phone threats to attempted murder, according to the report.The Forest Service had the most incidents at 177 followed by the Bureau of Land Management鈥檚 88. However, the report also noted that the number is an undercount. Many employees don鈥檛 report a threat because they see it as part of their job.

The GAO also found that most of these agencies hadn鈥檛 done required facility security assessments.

鈥淥fficials at the four agencies said that either they do not have the resources, expertise, or training to conduct assessments agency-wide,鈥� the report said. 鈥淸The Fish and Wildlife Service] has a plan to complete its assessments, but BLM, the Forest Service and the Park Service do not.鈥�

John Freemuth is a former park ranger now with the Andrus Center for Public Policy at Boise State University. He said threats aren鈥檛 new for public lands officials, but they do seem to be increasing.

鈥淚t is the nature of this business, and there鈥檚 a lot of misunderstanding, I think, that heats it up,鈥� he said.

While he does think security threat training is important, he said it doesn鈥檛 have to come from the government. It could come from universities tasked with training public lands employees, he said, 鈥渞ather than expect the federal government just to do it on their own after the fact.鈥�

Ultimately, the GAO recommended that all public lands agencies create a plan to meet facility security assessments within their resources. Find reporter Madelyn Beck on Twitter 

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