[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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