Forest Service, USDA.
Notice; request for comment.
In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Forest Service is seeking comments from all interested individuals and organizations on the extension of a currently approved information
Comments must be received in writing on or before February 11, 2013 to be assured of consideration. Comments received after that date will be considered to the extent practicable.
Comments concerning this notice should be addressed to Dr. Donald B.K. English, Recreation, Heritage, and Volunteer Resources, Mailstop 1125, USDA Forest Service, 1400 Independence Ave. SW., Washington, DC 20250–1125.
Comments also may be submitted via facsimile to 202–205–1145 or by email to:
The public may inspect comments received at Room 400, Rosslyn Plaza Building C, 1601 North Kent Street, Arlington, VA 22209 during normal business hours. Visitors are encouraged to call ahead to 202–205–9595 to facilitate entry to the building.
Donald B.K. English, Recreation, Heritage, and Volunteer Resources staff, 202–205–9595.
Individuals who use telecommunication devices for the deaf (TDD) may call the Federal Relay Service (FRS) at 1–800–877–8339, 24 hours a day, every day of the year, including holidays.
The Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 require Federal agencies to establish measurable goals and monitor their success at meeting those goals. Two of the items the Forest Service must measure are: (1) The number of visits that occur on the National Forest System lands for recreation and other purposes, and (2) the views and satisfaction levels of recreational visitors to National Forest System lands about the services, facilities, and settings. The Agency receives requests for this kind of information from a variety of organizations, including Congressional staffs, newspapers, magazines, and recreational trade organizations.
The data from this collection provides vital information for strategic planning efforts, decisions regarding allocation of resources, and revisions of land and resource management plans for national forests. It provides managers with reliable estimates of the number of recreational visitors to a national forest, activities of those visitors (including outdoor physical activities), customer satisfaction, and visitor values. The knowledge gained from this effort helps identify recreational markets as well as the economic impact visitors have on an area. The information collected is also used by the Office of Management and Budget as part of the Program Analysis Reporting Tool measures for the Forest Service recreation program. For the Forest Service, the collection is designed for a five-year cycle of coverage across all national forests. Conducting the collection less frequently puts information updates out of cycle with forest planning and other data preparation activities.
In addition, the U.S. Department of Interior (USDOI) Bureau of Land Management (BLM) anticipates partnering with the Forest Service, pending funding availability, to conduct further field testing of the National Visitor Use Monitoring (NVUM) survey and estimation protocol as a means for estimating the volume of visitation and describing key visitor characteristics. BLM lands are often adjacent to Forest Service lands, and patterns of visitor access are similar to those of the Forest Service. As well, BLM's information and reporting needs closely mirror those of the Forest Service.
At the recreation sites or access points, agency personnel or contractors will conduct onsite interviews of visitors as they complete their visit. Interviewers will ask about the purpose and length of the visit, the trip origin, activities, annual visitation rates, trip-related spending patterns, use of recreation facilities, satisfaction with agency services and facilities, and the composition of the visiting party. Primary analysis of the information for the Forest Service and partnering agencies will be performed by Forest Service staff in the Washington Office and by scientists in one or more of the agency's research stations.
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.