[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 50 (Friday, March 14, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 12154-12155]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-6501]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Forest Service


Extension of Currently Approved Information Collection for 
Interpretive Services Program

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 request an extension of a 
currently approved information collection. The Cooperative Funds and 
Deposits Act of 1975 (16 U.S.C. 565a through 565a-3) authorizes the 
Forest Service to enter into cooperative agreements with interpretive 
associations to provide interpretive services and educational 
literature for visitors on National Forest System lands. As part of the 
cooperative agreement, the Forest Service requires that the 
interpretive associations submit to the agency, annually, information 
regarding the types of interpretive services and educational literature 
provided. This collected information is used to compile the national 
report, ``National Interpretative Associations Annual Report,'' for the 
Chief of the Forest Service. The agency will use the collected 
information to evaluate cooperative agreements between the Forest 
Service and interpretive associations and to ensure effective 
management of the agency's interpretive services program. Information 
is requested using the Forest Service 2300-5 Annual Report Interpretive 
Associations Form.

DATES: Comments must be received in writing on or before May 13, 1997.

ADDRESSES: All comments should be addressed to: Director, Recreation, 
Heritage, and Wilderness Resources (MAIL STOP 1125), Forest Service, 
USDA, P.O. Box 96090, Washington, D.C. 20090-6090.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Richard Calnan, Recreation, Heritage, 
and Wilderness Resources Staff, at (202) 205-1228.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Description of Information Collection

    The following describes the information collection to be extended:
    Title: FS-2300-5 Annual Report Interpretive Associations.
    OMB Number: 0596-0097.
    Expiration Date of Approval: June 30, 1997.
    Type of Request: Extension of a previously approved information 
collection.
    Abstract: For over 20 years, the Forest Service has entered into 
cooperative agreements with interpretive associations under the 
authority of the Cooperative Funds and Deposits Act of 1975 (16 U.S.C. 
565a-1 through 565a-3) to provide interpretive services and educational 
materials to the public. Fifty-eight interpretive associations have 
signed cooperative agreements with the Forest Service for fiscal year 
1997 on 122 National Forests.
    Interpretive associations develop and publish educational materials 
about National Forest System land resources and programs, with the 
assistance of Forest Service employees. The associations also conduct 
field seminars, operate concession campgrounds under special use 
permits, and raise funds for projects and programs on National Forest 
System lands. Each year interpretive associations donate funds, 
employee staff time, and materials worth over $1 million in support of 
the agency's interpretive services program.
    Forest Service policy requires that interpretive associations 
provide to the Regional Forester and Forest Supervisor an annual 
narrative, accomplishment report, and financial statement by March 1 
each year. The Forest Service compiles the reports submitted to the 
Regional Foresters into a national report, ``National Interpretative 
Associations Annual Report,'' for the Chief of the Forest Service. The 
reports to the Regional Foresters also are used to compile an annual 
``Directory of Interpretive Associations.'' The Directory is used by 
other Federal agencies and entities wishing to do business with 
interpretive associations that have entered into cooperative agreements 
with the Forest Service. The Forest Service will use FS-2300-5 Annual 
Report Interpretive Associations Form to collect the information for 
the reports. The Form is divided into five parts.
    Part I asks for the name, address and telephone number of the 
association; the name of the Forest Service Region with which the 
association has entered into an agreement; the name(s) of the national 
forests with which the association is affiliated; the names of any 
other Forest Service Regions within which the association operates; and 
the names of any other agencies the association serves. For example, 
the Northwest Interpretive Association operates in Forest Service 
Regions 1, 5, and 6, and serves the Forest Service, National Park 
Service, Bureau of Land Management, and Department of the Army, Corps 
of Engineers.
    Part II asks for the interpretive association's gross receipts for 
the fiscal year. Gross receipts are the sum of the following line 
items: (a) sales of printed materials, such as books and pamphlets; (b) 
sales of audio-visual aids, such as video tapes, slides, and posters; 
(c) sales of theme-related objects or products, such as stuffed animals 
with a companion book for children; (d) sales of visitor convenience 
items, such as food, film, and stamps; (e) receipts from presentations, 
such as guided tours through National Forest System lands, or special 
movies or videos, such as the Chugach National Forest, Alaska video, 
``Prince William Sound--Where an Ocean of Time Meets a Land of 
Change;'' and (f) receipts from membership dues, donations, gifts, 
interest income, and other as specified.
    Part III asks for the total amount in dollars of benefits provided 
by the interpretive association to the Forest Service during the fiscal 
year. The total dollar benefits equate to the sum of the costs to the 
association of the following line items: (a) the cost of signs provided 
by the interpretive association, such as interpretive signs on the 
Shallow Flats Wetland Trail in Kentucky; (b) the cost of designing, 
fabricating, and installing new exhibits, such as the exhibit at the 
Mount St. Helens Visitor Center at Silver Lake, Washington; (c) the 
cost of providing equipment necessary to accomplishing the interpretive 
services mission, such as the purchase of a computer to monitor 
earthquake activity in the Eastern Sierra, California; (d) the cost of 
equipment, supplies, and travel necessary to conduct research 
activities, such as field trips to the Mount Evans Byway in Colorado to 
produce an audio tape tour, guide book, and Jr. Ranger book about the 
area; (e) the cost of providing free publications to the public; (f) 
the cost of improving recreational facilities, such as cleaning 
campgrounds and picnic sites, clearing and maintaining trails, or 
repairing and rehabilitating structures like the historic Ice House and 
the McKenzie house at the Custer Townsite in South Dakota; (g) the cost 
of improvements to wildlife habitat or of range, forest, or watershed 
projects, such as the eagle habitat study program in California; (h) 
the cost of special events, such as a visitor facility dedication; (i) 
the cost of training and educational programs, such as developing a 
curriculum guide for

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teachers that focuses on the wildflower resources of the Columbia River 
Gorge National Scenic Area; (j) the value of the time donated by 
interpretive association staff and volunteers to represent the agency 
in parades and to staff booths or interpretive tables at community 
events; and (k) other costs necessary to accomplishing the Forest 
Services interpretive services mission.
    Part IV asks for a brief description of the interpretive 
association's program and its accomplishments during the fiscal year, 
such as completion of an accessible interpretive kiosk at Cle Elum 
Ranger Station, Washington. Part V asks for a brief description of the 
planned program of work for the next fiscal year.
    Data gathered in this information collection is not available from 
other sources.
    Estimate of Burden: 1 hour.
    Type of Respondents: Executive Directors of Interpretive 
Associations.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 60.
    Estimated Number of Responses per Respondent: 1.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden on Respondents: 60 hours.
    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 utility; (b) the accuracy of the 
agency's 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, electronic, mechanical, or other 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. All comments will also become a matter of public record.

    Dated: March 7, 1997.
Barbara C. Weber,
Acting Chief.
[FR Doc. 97-6501 Filed 3-13-97; 8:45 am]
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