[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 166 (Wednesday, August 27, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45388-45390]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-22732]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Forest Service
Information Collection To Improve Methods of Measuring Public
Benefits of Natural Resource Management and Agency Communication
AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice of intent; request for comments.
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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the
Forest Service announces its intent to establish a new information
collection. The new collection will provide information that will help
Forest Service personnel better identify and measure the benefits that
the public perceives and demands from public lands. The agency also
will use the information collection to evaluate and improve its methods
of communicating with the public about Forest Service programs and
services. Respondents will be randomly selected members of the general
public, both users and non-users of National Forest System lands and
grasslands. Data gathered in this information collection is not
available from other sources.
DATES: Comments must be received in writing on or before October 27,
1997.
ADDRESSES: All comments should be addressed to George Peterson, Rocky
Mountain Forest and Range Experiment Station, Forest Service, USDA,
3825 East Mulberry, Fort Collins, CO 80524.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: George Peterson, Rocky Mountain Forest
and Range Experiment Station, at (970) 498-1885.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The mission of the Forest Service is ``caring for the land and
serving the people.'' As the U.S. population grows and diversifies,
demands on natural resources from the public lands are increasing.
Public perceptions of forests seem to be changing from the forest as a
source of products to the forest as a source of services. Currently,
the agency is unable to accurately identify and
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measure the services and benefits the public perceives, needs, expects,
or demands from the land. Research is needed to develop more accurate
measures of what the public wants in order for the agency to meet these
wants. So, Forest Service research personnel will ask members of the
public to help the agency develop more effective methods of evaluating
and measuring their needs and expectations.
The agency will use a two-phase information collection approach
which includes focus groups and experimental applications. During Phase
I, the focus group phase, the agency will ask small groups of people,
selected to represent a diverse cross-section of the public, to
identify benefits that they perceive from the land resource. The goal
of this phase will be to determine a baseline of information on what
members of the public know about the land, its natural resources, the
benefits available therefrom, and the terminology they use to describe
these benefits. The agency also will ask focus groups to construct
alternative question formats that will allow the determination and
measurement of preferences, values, concerns, expectations, and sources
of conflict related to perceived benefits.
In Phase II, Forest Service personnel will use the results of the
focus groups to design, test, and apply information collection measures
and methods, including interactive computerized interviews, personal
interviews, and mail-in questionnaires. Using these alternative
formats, Forest Service personnel will conduct surveys of users and
non-users of National Forest System lands and grasslands to obtain
rankings, weightings, values, or other measures of benefits that people
receive, perceive to be available, expect, or demand from natural
resources on the public lands.
Results of this research, and subsequent application of the
experimental measures and methods developed, will help the agency
better understand public demands for its programs and services, how
well it communicates its programs and services to the public, and how
well it meets the needs and expectations of the public.
Once the research project has been completed, the Forest Service
will publish the results of the data collection in Forest Service
Research Station papers for agency use and will submit articles to
scientific journals, such as the ``Journal of Environmental
Management,'' the ``Journal of Environmental Psychology,'' or the
``Journal of Leisure Research.''
Description of Information Collection
Title: Phase I--Focus Groups to Improve Methods to Measure Public
Benefits of Forest Service Communication and Natural Resource
Management.
OMB Number: New.
Expiration Date of Approval: New.
Type of Request: The following describes Phase I of a new
collection requirement and has not received approval from the Office of
Management and Budget.
Abstract: The agency will use a series of small focus groups to
identify, using the focus groups' own terminology and understandings,
benefits that members of the public perceive from the public lands. The
focus groups also will be asked to design alternative question formats
to identify and measure preferences, values, concerns, expectations,
and sources of conflict related to their perceived benefits.
The focus group phase of the research will be sequential and
developmental; that is, each focus group will build on the results of
the previous group. The first group will be asked to identify and
discuss benefits from natural resources and public lands. Ideas, terms,
issues, concerns, and other information that surface from this group
will become the baseline from which the next focus group will begin.
Successive groups will develop, discuss, and refine alternative
question formats. In this way, the agency will learn how people
describe, measure, and rank benefits. The number of individuals in each
focus group, the issues addressed, and the time required will vary from
group to group, depending on what is learned as the focus group phase
of the research progresses.
Forest Service research personnel and/or professional facilitators
will facilitate focus group discussions.
Data gathered in this information collection are not available from
other sources.
Estimated Burden per Respondent: 2 hours.
Type of Respondents: Voluntarily responding individuals chosen to
represent a diverse cross section of the general public, including both
visitors and non-visitors to National Forest System lands and
grasslands.
Estimated Number of Respondents: 72.
Estimated Number of Responses per Respondent: 1.
Estimated total burden on respondents: 144 hours.
Description of Information Collection
Title: Phase II--Experimental Applications to Improve Methods to
Measure Public Benefits of Forest Service Communication and Natural
Resource Management.
OMB Number: New.
Expiration Date of Approval: New.
Type of Request: The following describes Phase II of a new
collection requirement and has not received approval from the Office of
Management and Budget.
Abstract: Forest Service research personnel will use the issues and
methods developed by the focus groups to design, test, and apply
information collection methods and measures, including interactive
computerized interviews, personal interviews, and mail-in
questionnaires. These will be used to collect information from the
public to obtain rankings, weightings, values, or other measures of
benefits that people receive, perceive to be available, expect, or
demand from natural resources on the public lands.
Forest Service personnel will use the results to evaluate whether
the agency's land management programs produce the benefits desired by
the public and to evaluate agency information dissemination to the
public about Forest Service programs and the benefits they are designed
to deliver.
Data gathered in this information collection are not available from
other sources.
Estimated Burden per Respondent: 30 minutes.
Type of respondents: Voluntarily responding individuals selected
from the general public using random processes; these will include
users of and visitors on National Forest System lands and grasslands,
as well as non-users and non-visitors.
Estimated Number of Respondents: 1,900.
Number of Responses per Respondent: 1.
Estimated Total Burden on Respondents: 950 hours.
Comments Are Invited
The agency invites comments on the following: (a) Whether the
proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper
performance of the functions of the agency, including whether the
information will have practical or scientific utility; (b) the accuracy
of the estimate of the burden of the proposed collection of
information, including the validity of the methodology and assumptions
used; (c) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the
information to be collected; and (d) ways to minimize the burden of the
collection of information on respondents, including the use of
automated, mechanical, or other
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technological collection techniques or other forms of information
technology.
Use of Comments
All comments received in response to this notice will be summarized
and included in the request for Office of Management and Budget
approval. Those who submit comments should be aware that all comments,
including names and addresses when provided, are placed in the record
and are available for public inspection.
Dated: August 20, 1997.
Ronald E. Stewart,
Acting Associate Chief.
[FR Doc. 97-22732 Filed 8-26-97; 8:45 am]
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