[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 189 (Monday, October 2, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 67792-67795]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-21665]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[Docket No. FWS-HQ-NWRS-2023-0126; FXRS126109HD000-234-FF09R23000; OMB
Control Number 1018-New]
Agency Information Collection Activities; Programmatic Clearance
for U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Social Science Research
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of information collection; request for comment.
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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, we,
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), are proposing a new
information collection.
DATES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments on or before
December 1, 2023.
ADDRESSES: Send your comments on the information collection request
(ICR) by
[[Page 67793]]
one of the following methods (reference Office of Management and Budget
(OMB) Control Number 1018--Programmatic in the subject line of your
comment):
Internet (preferred): https://www.regulations.gov. Follow
the instructions for submitting comments on Docket No. FWS-HQ-NWRS-
2023-0126.
U.S. mail: Service Information Collection Clearance
Officer, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 5275 Leesburg Pike, MS: PRB
(JAO/3W), Falls Church, VA 22041-3803.
We will not accept email or faxes. Comments and materials we
receive, as well as supporting documentation, will be available for
public inspection on https://www.regulations.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To request additional information
about this ICR, contact Madonna L. Baucum, Service Information
Collection Clearance Officer, by email at [email protected], or by
telephone at (703) 358-2503. Individuals in the United States who are
deaf, deafblind, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability may dial
711 (TTY, TDD, or TeleBraille) to access telecommunications relay
services. Individuals outside the United States should use the relay
services offered within their country to make international calls to
the point-of-contact in the United States.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction
Act (PRA, 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.) and its implementing regulations at 5
CFR 1320.8(d)(1), all information collections require approval under
the PRA. We may not conduct or sponsor and you are not required to
respond to a collection of information unless it displays a currently
valid OMB control number.
As part of our continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent
burdens, we invite the public and other Federal agencies to comment on
new, proposed, revised, and continuing collections of information. This
helps us assess the impact of our information collection requirements
and minimize the public's reporting burden. It also helps the public
understand our information collection requirements and provide the
requested data in the desired format.
We are especially interested in public comment addressing the
following:
(1) Whether or not the collection of information is necessary for
the proper performance of the functions of the agency, including
whether or not the information will have practical utility;
(2) The accuracy of our estimate of the burden for this 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) How might the agency minimize the burden of the collection of
information on those who are to respond, including through the use of
appropriate automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological
collection techniques or other forms of information technology, e.g.,
permitting electronic submission of response.
Comments that you submit in response to this notice are a matter of
public record. We will include or summarize each comment in our request
to OMB to approve this ICR. Before including your address, phone
number, email address, or other personal identifying information in
your comment, you should be aware that your entire comment--including
your personal identifying information--may be made publicly available
at any time. While you can ask us in your comment to withhold your
personal identifying information from public review, we cannot
guarantee that we will be able to do so.
Abstract: Monitoring and evaluating U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
(Service) activities, including the activities National Wildlife Refuge
System (Refuge System), is an essential component of strategic and
adaptive management. The collection of information is necessary to
enable the Service to garner customer and stakeholder feedback in an
efficient, timely manner, in accordance with our commitment to improved
service delivery and customer experience. In particular, collection of
information and rigorous social science inquiries are necessary to
fulfil the goals of the President's Executive Order 14008--Tackling the
Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad, the principles of the Service's
community-focused Urban Wildlife Conservation Program, a commitment to
serving a broader and more diverse public, and allowing the Service to
better understand the needs and perspectives of Tribal Nations and
Native communities.
The proposed programmatic clearance would cover social science
surveys, interviews, and focus groups designed to provide information
to Service managers and practitioners to improve quality and utility of
agency programs, services, and planning efforts. To ensure continuous
improvement, Service activities and projects require ongoing systematic
assessment of their design, implementation, and outcomes. Data from
collections undertaken through the proposed programmatic clearance
would provide information for planning, monitoring, and evaluating
Refuge System efforts, as well as efforts of other Service programs.
The scope of this programmatic clearance includes individual surveys,
focus groups, and interviews of refuge visitors, potential visitors,
and residents of communities near Service-managed units, and
stakeholders and partners, including Tribal interests.
The President's Executive Order 14008 sets the goal of conserving
``at least 30 percent of our lands and waters by 2030'' through the
Conserving and Restoring America the Beautiful campaign. A
collaborative approach is needed to achieve the principles for locally
led efforts and better understand the patterns and trends occurring
across public lands and waters. The Service's national visitor survey
is one approach to collecting information from the public related to
visitation across the Refuge System. The national visitor survey seeks
to understand the recreation trends and experiences of visitors at
refuges to better manage for future visitation that aligns with
national conservation goals. One of the recommendations for early focus
and progress in the America the Beautiful campaign specifically
recommends increasing access for outdoor recreation, a management
objective the monitoring data from the visitor survey can help to
inform.
The Service's Urban Wildlife Conservation program (Urban program)
was established as a means to engage with urban communities more
meaningfully in fish and wildlife conservation. It enumerates
designation criteria for urban wildlife refuges (urban refuges),
partnerships, and bird treaty cities, and describes how the standards
of excellence apply to urban refuges and other urban activities. The
Urban program aligns particularly well with the Department of the
Interior's focus on equity and environmental justice, work that helps
to achieve one of the President's Four Pillars (Racial Equity). Another
recommendation outlined in the Conserving and Restoring America the
Beautiful campaign includes creating safe outdoor opportunities in
nature-deprived communities, a goal of which the Urban program is
helping to achieve.
The Service is required to ``evaluate and adapt'' the practices of
the Urban program through internal review of the urban entities by the
Division of Visitor Services and Communications every 5 years,
including an expanded visitor services review for the Urban Refuges as
per Policy 110 FW 1. The Division
[[Page 67794]]
``must analyze the people they are reaching and conduct approved
visitor use surveys to monitor the changes and track audience
engagement.'' In addition, the Service is committed to evaluating
progress and measuring success of the Urban Program's standards of
excellence, such as ``know and relate to the community; connect urban
residents with nature through the steppingstones of engagement; and
ensure visitors feel safe and welcome.''
The Service's Human Dimensions (HD) Branch, programmatically
aligned within the National Wildlife Refuge System, will serve as the
office of control for the programmatic clearance. The role of the HD
Branch is to build conservation social science understanding, capacity
and integration within the Service. A suite of questions will serve as
the basis for all information collections under this programmatic
clearance. The suite of questions will be used to develop surveys to
respond to the above-named Presidential Priorities as well as
adaptively ensure improved customer experience and satisfaction. As the
office of control, the HD branch ICR Coordinator will conduct the
necessary quality control, including assuring that each survey
instrument comports with the guidelines of the programmatic clearance.
We developed the following topic areas within the suite of
questions to streamline the ICR process:
(1) Respondent Characteristics (e.g., demographics, land and
property characteristics, and visits to other public lands). This topic
area allows us to understand customer demographic profiles and track
visitation trends more holistically over time.
(2) Communication (e.g., languages spoken, sources of information
used, and use of social media and other web-based outlets). This topic
area allows us to understand customer preferences for finding
information.
(3) Trip Planning and Logistics (e.g., purpose of trip, information
on wayfinding used, and various trip characteristics). This topic area
allows us to understand the logistics and information involved with a
customer's trip planning experience and make strategic transportation
decisions.
(4) Recreation Activities, Experiences, and Preferences (e.g.,
recreation activity preferences, experience, and satisfaction). This
topic area allows us to better why customers visit, understand
preferences for wildlife-dependent recreation, and provide a quality
customer experiences at specific sites.
(5) Knowledge, Attitudes, and Beliefs (e.g., understanding and
opinions around nature, the outdoors, climate change, and the agency).
This topic area allows us to improve future programming and
communications with customers.
(6) Resource Management Perceptions and Preferences (e.g.,
attitudes around resource protection, transportation needs, and other
management decisions). This topic area allows us to understand current
customer perceptions and anticipate as how customers would most likely
react to future management actions.
(7) Visitor Expenditures and Economic Inputs (e.g., trip expenses,
information on local businesses, and landowner contributions). This
topic area allows us to gather economic data related to conservation
goals of the agency.
(8) Public, Stakeholder, and Partner Engagement (e.g.,
participation in programs, partnerships, and various conservation
actions). This topic area allows us to understand if and how the
customer dedicates their time to conservation-related actions.
(9) Program Evaluation (e.g., learning outcomes, program experience
rating, and satisfaction). This topic area allows to better assess
overall program outcomes and performance to improve future programming.
To qualify for the generic programmatic review process, each
individual collection under this programmatic clearance must be well-
defined in terms of its sample or respondent pool and research
methodology; it should clearly fit within the overall plan and scope of
the approved ICR; and the survey questions must show a clear tie to
Service management needs. Individual collections may not raise any
controversial policy issues, include topics of significant public
interest, or go beyond the methods specified and approved by OMB in
this programmatic ICR. Any individual collection that requests non-
agency goal-related data or information on controversial topics would
be inappropriate for expedited review under this programmatic clearance
and must go through the full PRA clearance process to solicit public
feedback. In instances where HD Branch staff are involved with the
development of the individual information collection, other uninvolved
staff in the HD Branch or a member of the ICR review team would review
the ICR.
We will obtain OMB approval of all individual survey submissions
developed using the pre-approved suite of questions before the survey
can be initiated. If, after consultation with the principal
investigator, the ICR coordinator recommends a proposed survey for
approval, both the Service and Departmental Information Collection
Clearance Officers (ICCO) will review the ICR before it is formally
transmitted to OMB for review and approval.
A copy of the draft suite of questions is available to the public
for viewing in the docket on the https://www.regulations.gov website,
or by submitting an email request to the Service ICCO as provided in
the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of this notice.
Title of Collection: Programmatic Clearance for U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service Social Science Research.
OMB Control Number: 1018-New.
Form Number: None.
Type of Review: New.
Respondents/Affected Public: Persons visiting units managed by the
Service; potential visitors, including ``virtual visitors'' who access
content from a Service website; local community members; educators
taking part in programs both on and off Service lands; government
officials representing the local area; landowners; partners;
stakeholders; and Tribal interests.
Respondent's Obligation: Voluntary.
Frequency of Collection: On occasion.
Total Estimated Annual Nonhour Burden Cost: None.
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Annual estimates
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Completion
Mode Number of time per Burden hours
respondents response (avg. **
minutes)
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On-site, mail, internet surveys *............................... 20,333 20 6,778
Telephone surveys............................................... 833 25 347
[[Page 67795]]
All non-response surveys........................................ 784 5 65
Focus groups/In-person interviews............................... 59 60 59
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Annual Total................................................ 22,009 .............. 7,249
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3 Year Total................................................ 66,027 .............. 21,747
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* Includes 2-minute contact time for some surveys, interviews, and focus groups, and approximately 2,500
electronic surveys.
** All figures are rounded.
An agency may not conduct or sponsor and a person is not required
to respond to a collection of information unless it displays a
currently valid OMB control number.
The authority for this action is the Paperwork Reduction Act of
1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.).
Madonna Baucum,
Information Collection Clearance Officer, U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service.
[FR Doc. 2023-21665 Filed 9-29-23; 8:45 am]
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