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[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 248 (Monday, December 29, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 67654-67655]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-33727]

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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

60-Day Notice of Intention To Request Clearance of Collection of 
Information--Opportunity for Public Comment

AGENCY: Department of the Interior, National Park Service, and 13 Units 
of the National Park Service.

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The National Park Service is proposing to sponsor during the 
summer of 1998 a project to determine how park visitors at a sample of 
thirteen parks feel about the recreation fee demonstration program that 
currently is being tested in approximately 100 projects that involve 
more than 100 units of the National Park System. The parks proposed to 
be surveyed in 1998 include:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                             Estimated                  
                NPS unit                      number         Estimated  
                                             responses     burden hours 
------------------------------------------------------------------------
(1) Allegheny Portage Railroad National                                 
 Historical Site........................             300             100
(2) Colonial National Historical Park...             300             100
(3) Everglades National Park............             300             100
(4) Frederick Douglass National Historic                                
 Site...................................             300             100
(5) Glen Canyon National Recreation Area             300             100
(6) Golden Gate National Recreation Area             300             100
(7) Grand Canyon National Park..........             300             100
(8) Independence National Historical                                    
 Park...................................             400             200
(9) Mesa Verde National Park............             300             100
(10) Sitka National Park................             300             100
(11) Sleeping Bear Dunes National                                       
 Lakeshore..............................             300             100
(12) Yellowstone National Park..........             400             200
(13) Yosemite National Park.............             400             200
                                         -------------------------------
    Totals..............................           4,200           1,600
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Under provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 and 5 CFR 
part 1320, Reporting and Record Keeping Requirements, the National Park 
Service is soliciting comments on the need for gathering the 
information in this proposed visitor study. The NPS is also asking for 
comments on the practical utility of the information being gathered; 
the accuracy of the burden hour estimate; ways to enhance the quality, 
utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and ways to 
minimize the burden to respondents, including use of automated 
information collection techniques or other forms of information 
technology.
    The NPS goal in conducting this survey is to identify what 
influences, if any, changes in park fee structures have had on the 
characteristics and relative mix of different types of park visitors 
who use the parks, on how implementing the demonstration fee program is 
affecting the operations of the parks from the perspective of the 
visitors, and on how the changes associated with the changed fee 
structures and any resulting changes in park operations affect the 
experiences of the visitors using these parks. In addition, at the 
three more intensively surveyed parks, the project goal is to determine 
how changes caused by the fee demonstration program may be impacting 
local and regional communities and economies. Results of the surveys 
proposed to be conducted at these 13 parks will be used by NPS managers 
in their ongoing planning and management activities to improve visitor 
services, protect park resources, and better serve the parks' current 
and future visitors. Results of the recreation fee demonstration 
program of which this proposed survey activity will be a part will be 
used by the National Park Service, the Department of the Interior, and 
the Congress to evaluate the outcome of the trial recreation fee 
demonstration program and to consider whether or not to enact 
legislation to establish permanent recreation fee authority for the 
National Park Service.

DATES: Public comments will be accepted on or before February 27, 1998.
    Send Comments To: Dr. John Duffield, 3699 Larch Camp Road, 
Missoula, Montana 59803, phone and fax: 406-728-9510.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. John Duffield at the above 
address.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

    Title: Visitor and Related Survey at 13 Recreation Fee 
Demonstration Parks.
    Bureau Form Number: None.
    OMB Number: To be requested.
    Expiration Date: To be requested.

[[Page 67655]]

    Type of Request: Request for new clearance.
    Description of Need: NPS needs information concerning park visitor 
demographics and visitor opinions about the fee demonstration program 
that the National Park Service is testing. The information proposed to 
be collected from visitors and park managers in these 13 parks to meet 
these needs is not available from existing records, sources, or 
observations.
    Automated Date Collection: At the present time, there is no 
automated way to gather this information, since it includes asking 
visitors to react to fees, park management, and visitor services at the 
parks they are visiting. The intrusion on visitors is minimized by 
contacting them only once during their visit to the park.
    Description of Respondents: A sample of visitors to each park.
    Estimated Average Number of Respondents: 300 visitors per park at 
ten of the parks and 400 visitors per park at the other three parks.
    Estimated Average Number of Responses: Each respondent will respond 
only one time, so the number of responses will be the same as the 
number of respondents.
    Estimated Average Burden Hours Per Response: 20 minutes at each of 
the 10 parks and 30 minutes at each of the remaining 3 parks.
    Frequency of Response: 1 time per respondent.
    Estimated Annual Reporting Burden: The total for all parks is 
estimated to be 1,600 hours.
Diane M. Cooke,
Information Collection Clearance Officer, WASO Administrative Program 
Center, National Park Service.
[FR Doc. 97-33727 Filed 12-24-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-70-M
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