[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 113 (Monday, June 14, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 33573-33574]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-14203]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Forest Service
Information Collection; Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research
Institute Wilderness 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: Aldo Leopold
Wilderness Research Institute Wilderness Visitor Study.
DATES: Comments must be received in writing on or before August 13,
2010 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
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 e-mail to: [email protected].
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 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, between 8 a.m. and 8
p.m., Eastern Standard Time, Monday through Friday.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Title: Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute Wilderness
Visitor Study.
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
Department of the Interior, National Park Service, to provide
information to support management planning for public wild lands.
Management of specific parks are directed by laws, policies, and
Wilderness Stewardship 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 National Park Service is expected to
understand trends in numbers of visitors; patterns of use; and how
users feel about administrative facilities, trail conditions, and
policies aimed at controlling visitor impacts to wilderness ecosystems.
To help meet the National Park Service's mandates related to
wilderness recreation, scientists at the Aldo Leopold Wilderness
Research Institute have a long history of periodically monitoring and
reporting to managers and the public trends in use, user
[[Page 33574]]
characteristics, and visitor input on management actions for National
Park Wilderness. Emphasis is often on how well the public perceives the
National Park Service is meeting the mandate of guiding legislation.
National Park personnel use the collected information to ensure that
the Agency is meeting their legislated mandates, understanding how
visitors' recreational activities influence the natural resources of
the park, and making certain that wilderness-type recreation
experiences are protected.
Managers at Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks have requested
assistance from the Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute to
gather, analyze, and report on information from visitors to contribute
to wilderness stewardship planning. Sequoia and Kings Canyon National
Parks in California contain 808,000 acres of federally protected
wilderness and another 30,000 acres are managed as wilderness per
National Park Service policies. Managers desire to understand visitor
attitudes about administrative and scientific facilities in the
wilderness, methods used to protect wilderness conditions and social
conditions, actions taken by managers to control impacts, visitor
perceptions of wilderness character trends, and demographics of
visitors. 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 National Park Service will use information from this collection
to help make the Wilderness Stewardship Plan responsive to legislative
and policy guidelines as well as acknowledging a changing client base
of American citizens and foreign visitors through creating
understanding of:
1. How users feel about such administrative facilities as ranger
stations, crew camps, and radio repeaters; user support facilities such
as food storage lockers, bridges, and signs; research support
facilities such as wells, plot markers, weirs and snow pillows; trail
quality; hand held technology use, and short-term manipulations of
conditions to achieve long-term naturalness goals;
2. How different kinds of visitors (e.g., overnight users, hikers,
stock users, outfitted, and non-outfitted groups) feel about the level
of isolation and immersion in nature they perceive; how they evaluate
encounters with others; and how they evaluate visitor impacts and
management actions taken to control those impacts;
3. How different kinds of users define the most important elements
of the wilderness environment and social conditions, such as
naturalness, wildness, challenge, self-reliance, crowding, and
aesthetics; and
4. How current visitor use characteristics, attitudes and use
patterns differ from those observed in the past and at other places,
and how they may be projected to differ in the future.
Respondents will be overnight recreation visitors to the wilderness
of Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks during the summers of 2011
and 2012. Visitors will be contacted from information they provide in
their required overnight wilderness permits. Visitors will be provided
alternative methods of response to the survey about their recreation
experience in the Park: (1) Mail the survey to the Leopold Institute
using a postage paid envelope, (2) receive an electronic e-mail form of
the survey, or (3) access a web-based form of the electronic survey.
All responses will be voluntary. Data collected in this information
collection are not available from other sources and nothing comparable
has been collected at Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks since
1990.
This survey will only ask overnight recreation visitors 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 recreational wilderness visits. Survey
respondents will be told that this information is voluntary and in
confidence (their names will not be connected to their responses in any
way).
Estimate of Annual Burden: 20 minutes.
Type of Respondents: Individuals.
Estimated Annual Number of Respondents: 500.
Estimated Annual Number of Responses per Respondent: 1.
Estimated Total Annual Burden on Respondents: 167 hours.
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 National Park Service, including whether the
information will have practical or scientific utility; (2) the accuracy
of the Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute'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 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 submission request
toward Office of Management and Budget approval.
Dated: June 7, 2010.
Angela V. Coleman,
Associate Deputy Director, Research & Development.
[FR Doc. 2010-14203 Filed 6-11-10; 8:45 am]
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