[Federal Register: October 1, 2007 (Volume 72, Number 189)]
[Notices]
[Page 55736-55737]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr01oc07-26]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Forest Service
Information Collection; Arctic National Refuge Recreation Visitor
Study
AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice; request for comment.
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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the
Forest Service is seeking comments from all interested individuals and
organizations on the new information collection, Arctic National
Wildlife Refuge Recreation Visitor Study--2008.
DATES: Comments must be received in writing on or before November 30,
2007 to be assured of consideration. Comments received after that date
will be considered to the extent practicable.
ADDRESSES: Comments concerning this notice should be addressed to Alan
E. Watson, Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute, USDA Forest
Service Rocky Mountain Research Station, 790 E. Beckwith Ave.,
Missoula, MT 59801.
Comments also may be submitted via facsimile to 406-542-4196 or by
e-mail to: awatson@fs.fed.us.
The public may inspect comments received at the Aldo Leopold
Wilderness Research Institute, USDA Forest Service Rocky Mountain
Station, 790 E. Beckwith Ave., Missoula, MT during normal business
hours. Visitors are encouraged to call ahead to 406-542-4197 to
facilitate entry to the building.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Alan E. Watson, Aldo Leopold
Wilderness Research Institute at 406-542-4197. Individuals who use TDD
may call the Federal Relay Service (FRS) at 1-800-877-8339, 24 hours a
day, every day of the year, including holidays.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Title: Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Recreation Visitor Study--
2008.
OMB Number: 0596-NEW.
Type of Request: New.
Abstract: The Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute in
Missoula, Montana, works under an interagency agreement with the U.S.
Fish & Wildlife Service (Department of the Interior) to provide
information to support management planning for public wild lands.
Management of specific refuges is directed by laws,
[[Page 55737]]
policies, and Comprehensive Conservation Plans. The Wilderness Act of
1964 directs the National Wilderness Preservation System be managed to
protect natural wilderness conditions and to provide outstanding
opportunities for the public to find solitude or primitive and
unconfined types of recreational experiences. The Arctic National
Wildlife Refuge contains 8,000,000 acres of federally protected
wilderness (Molly Beattie Wilderness) and over 11,000,000 acres of land
and water that are managed for multiple values (subsistence, wildlife,
water quality, scenic values, etc.), and mandated to provide recreation
experiences to visitors under a number of laws, including the National
Wildlife Refuge System Administration Act, (as amended by the National
Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act), the Refuge Recreation Act, and
the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act.
To help meet Federal agencies' mandates related to recreation,
scientists at the Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute will
periodically monitor and report, to managers and the public, visitor
use and user characteristics, and visitor feedback on management
actions on federal lands. Agency personnel will use the collected
information to ensure that visitors' recreational activities do not
harm the natural resources of the refuge and that wilderness-type
recreation experiences are protected. The agency intends to record
visitor responses in 2008 for comparison to the most recent survey
(1977 prior to Refuge status and Wilderness designation), and expand
the scope of the survey to include visitor feedback to understand major
dimensions of experiences and factors that influence those experiences.
Potential influences include encounters with other visitors,
subsistence users, researchers, and agency personnel and information
sources used to plan the trip. The data from this information
collection will be stored at the Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research
Institute in Missoula, Montana. Scientists working at the Research
Institute will conduct the data analysis.
The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service will use information from this
collection to:
(1) Understand;
a. Individual visitor demographics, frequency of visits, and
residence;
b. Visit characteristics, such as whether they are hunting or not,
river floating or not, method of access, size of group, and difficulty
in finding campsites, evaluations of conditions encountered, and
feedback on information available for trip planning;
(2) Gain an understanding of how the agency's management of the
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and other potential facilitating and
constraining factors influence a visitor's recreation experience;
(3) Help understand how to educate recreation visitors so they do
not leave impacts from their visits, such as damaged vegetation,
litter, polluted lakes and streams, and wildlife disturbance while
engaging in high quality, safe, responsible recreation visits; and
(4) Provide information that may assist in revision of the Arctic
National Wildlife Refuge Comprehensive Conservation Plan.
Respondents will be recreation visitors to the Arctic National
Wildlife Refuge. Visitors will be contacted as they enter the Arctic
Refuge or upon exit and will be provided with a mail-back postcard that
offers them alternative methods of response to the survey: (1) Mail the
postage-paid postcard to the Leopold Institute with a name and address
in order to receive a mail-back survey, (2) mail the postage paid
postcard to the Leopold Institute with an electronic e-mail address to
receive an electronic form of the survey, or (3) keep the postcard that
contains a web address for on-line completion of the survey. All
responses will be voluntary. Data collected in this information
collection are not available from other sources and have not been
collected since 1977.
This study will only ask recreation visitors (non-local, non-
subsistence users) questions about their recreation visit, their
personal demographics relevant to education and service provision, and
factors that have influenced or are likely to influence their
recreation visits. Survey respondents will be told that this
information is voluntary, in confidence (their names will not be
connected to their responses in any way). The Survey will not include
questions related to oil exploration or development within the
boundaries of the Refuge.
Estimate of Annual Burden: 20 minutes.
Type of Respondents: Individuals.
Estimated Annual Number of Respondents: 900.
Estimated Annual Number of Responses per Respondent: Once.
Estimated Total Annual Burden on Respondents: 300 hours.
Comment is Invited:
Comment is invited on: (1) Whether this collection of information
is necessary for the stated purposes and the proper performance of the
functions of the agency, including whether the information will have
practical or scientific utility; (2) the accuracy of the agency's
estimate of the burden of the collection of information, including the
validity of the methodology and assumptions used; (3) ways to enhance
the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected;
and (4) ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information on
respondents, including the additional use of automated, electronic,
mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or other forms
of information technology.
All comments received in response to this notice, including names
and addresses when provided, will be a matter of public record.
Comments will be summarized and included in the request for Office of
Management and Budget approval.
Dated: September 21, 2007.
Ann M. Bartuska,
Deputy Chief for Research & Development.
[FR Doc. E7-19253 Filed 9-28-07; 8:45 am]
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