This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER

contains documents other than rules or

proposed rules that are applicable to the

public. Notices of hearings and investigations,

committee meetings, agency decisions and

rulings, delegations of authority, filing of

petitions and applications and agency

statements of organization and functions are

examples of documents appearing in this

section.

Notices Federal Register

5508

Vol. 66, No. 13

Friday, January 19, 2001

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service

Information Collection; Request for

Comments; Improve Management of

the Tongass National Forest and

Service to Southeast Alaska Residents

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: In accordance with the

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the

Forest Service announces its intention

to establish a new information

collection. The collected information

will help the Forest Service identify and

meet the needs of southeast Alaska

residents who use, visit, or benefit in

other ways from the Tongass National

Forest in southeast Alaska. Information

will be collected from southeast Alaska

residents.

DATES: Comments must be received in

writing on or before March 20, 2001.

ADDRESSES: All comments should be

addressed to Robert F. Schroeder,

Forestry Sciences Lab, Forest Service,

USDA, 2770 Sherwood Lane, Suite 2A,

Juneau, AK 99801.

Comments also may be submitted via

facsimile to (907) 586–7848 or by email

to: rschroeder@fs.fed.us.

The public may inspect comments

received at the Office of the Forestry

Sciences Lab, Forest Service, USDA,

2770 Sherwood Lane, Suite 2A, Juneau,

Alaska. Visitors are asked to call (907)

586–8811, extension 240, to facilitate

entrance into the building.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Robert F. Schroeder, Forestry Sciences

Lab, at (907) 586–8811, extension 240.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

The Tongass National Forest

encompasses nearly 85 percent of the

land in southeast Alaska, and activities

conducted on the Forest form the basis

for the regional economy. Commercial

fishing, timber production, mineral

extraction, and the quickly growing

tourism industry depend on the

renewable and non-renewable natural

resources of this National Forest. The

Forest Service completed a revision of

the Tongass Land Management Plan in

1997 and published a revised Record of

Decision in the Federal Register on May

11, 1999 (64 FR 25274). The Tongass

Land Management Plan and Record of

Decision will serve as a blueprint for

how the Forest Service will manage the

Tongass National Forest over the next

10 to 15 years.

While revising the Tongass Land

Management Plan in 1997, the Forest

Service identified critical information

needs. Some of these information needs

were associated with the human

component of Tongass National Forest

ecosystems, that is the people and social

systems that benefit from these

ecosystems.

The collected data, by addressing the

human component, will provide the

Forest Service with a better

understanding of how forest

management practices influence

community well-being and social

change within the southeast Alaska

geographic area and will help the

agency meet the needs of residents of

southeast Alaska who are affected by

forest management actions on a day-today basis.

The agency will gain a better

understanding of the demands that

southeast Alaska residents make on the

Tongass National Forest programs and

services, how well information about

agency programs and services are

communicated to southeast Alaska

residents, and how well the agency

meets the needs and expectations of the

residents of southeast Alaska.

Forest Service personnel from the

Pacific Northwest Research Station

Forestry Sciences Lab in Juneau, Alaska,

will work in cooperation with

University of Alaska research staff to

design, administer, and evaluate these

surveys. Interviewers will conduct

surveys by telephone. Persons

interviewed will be asked to respond to

questions that include their perceptions

of how the Tongass National Forest is

managed by the agency, their

preferences for how this National Forest

should be managed, their perceptions of

Tongass National Forest ecosystems,

their past and planned visits to the

Tongass National Forest, their use of the

forest’s resources, their vision of the

forest of the future, their household and

community economic dependence on

the forest, and their attitudes and values

concerning timber management.

University of Alaska and Forestry

Sciences Lab scientists will tabulate the

results from this information collection.

The results will be available to the

public and to State and Federal agencies

in printed and electronic formats. The

results also will be published in the

Pacific Northwest Research Station’s

General Technical Report series and in

referenced journals.

This data collection will provide

information on how southeast Alaska

residents use the Tongass National

Forest, the extent of their economic and

subsistence reliance on the forest, and

their attitudes and values concerning

future management of the Tongass

National Forest.

Description of Information Collection

The following describes the

information collection to be established:

Title: The Tongass Southeast Alaska

Resident Survey.

OMB Number: New.

Expiration Date of Approval: New.

Type of Request: This is a new

information collection requirement and

has not yet received approval from the

Office of Management and Budget.

Abstract: The Forest Service, other

Federal agencies, and the State of

Alaska conducted a survey in 1979 to

assess the interaction of the southeast

Alaska residents with the Tongass

National Forest. This survey also

included the perceptions these residents

had of the Tongass as a natural resource.

The 1979 survey provided the most

recent comprehensive information on

southeast Alaska residents’ subsistence

and recreational use of the Tongass,

their attitudes and values concerning

the Tongass National Forest, their

interest in the development of a regional

timber economy, and their perceptions

of Forest Service land management

practices. This important benchmark

survey is now 20 years old and may not

be an accurate reflection of the views,

perceptions, and activities of current

southeast Alaska residents.

This new information collection will

provide more current data and will

identify issues that have become

important to the southeast Alaska

residents in the intervening years.

Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 13 / Friday, January 19, 2001 / Notices 5509

Respondents also will be asked

questions that relate to issues that were

not important at the time of the 1979

survey. These issues include large scale

timber harvesting on national forest and

private lands; a large increase in tourist

and recreational use of the Tongass

National Forest; expansion of tourist use

into back-country areas; economic

restructuring of the area that is moving

away from timber, mining, and

commercial fishing toward tourism and

service industries; and an increasing

resident and visitor population

competing for limited fish and wildlife

resources.

Forest Service personnel and

University of Alaska research staff will

conduct a random sample survey of

southeast Alaska residents, through

telephone interviews.

Data gathered in this information

collection are not available from other

sources.

Estimate of Annual Burden: 30

minutes per respondent.

Type of Respondents: Individual

residents of southeast Alaska

communities.

Estimated Annual Number of

Respondents: 1600 per year.

Estimated Annual Number of

Responses per Respondent: 1.

Estimated Total Annual Burden on

Respondents: 800 hours.

Comment Is Invited

The agency invites comments on the

following: (a) Whether the proposed

collection of information is necessary

for the stated purposes and the proper

performance of the functions of the

agency, including whether the

information will have practical or

scientific 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, including names and

addresses when provided, will become

a matter of public record. Comments

will be summarized and included in the

request for Office of Management and

Budget approval.

Dated: January 9, 2001.

Barbara C. Weber,

Associate Deputy Chief for Research &

Development.

[FR Doc. 01–1583 Filed 1–18–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410–11–U

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Submission for OMB Review;

Comment Request

The Department of Commerce (DOC)

has submitted to the Office of

Management and Budget (OMB) for

clearance the following proposal for

collection of information under

provisions of the Paperwork Reduction

Act (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35).

Agency: Bureau of Export

Administration (BXA).

Title: Short Supply Regulations—

Unprocessed Western Red Cedar.

Agency Form Number: None.

OMB Approval Number: 0694–0025.

Type of Request: Extension of a

currently approved collection of

information.

Burden: 35 hours.

Average Time Per Response: 60

minutes per response.

Number of Respondents: 35

respondents.

Needs and Uses: The information is

collected as supporting documentation

for license applications to export

western red cedar logs to enforce the

Export Administration Act’s prohibition

against the export of such logs from

State or Federal lands.

Affected Public: Individuals,

businesses or other for-profit

institutions.

Required to obtain or retain a benefit.

OMB Desk Officer: David Rostker.

Copies of the above information

collection proposal can be obtained by

calling or writing Madeleine Clayton,

Departmental Clearance Officer, Office

of the Chief Information Officer, (202)

482–3129, Department of Commerce,

Room 6086, 14th and Constitution

Avenue, NW, Washington, D.C. 20230,

or via e-mail at MClayton@doc.gov.

Written comments and

recommendations for the proposed

information collection should be sent

within 30 days of publication of this

notice to David Rostker, OMB Desk

Officer, Room 10202, New Executive

Office Building, Washington, DC 20230.

Dated: January 12, 2001.

Madeleine Clayton,

Departmental Clearance Officer, Office of the

Chief Information Officer.

[FR Doc. 01–1563 Filed 1–18–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510–33–P

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration

[Docket No. 010111011–1011–01]

RIN 0648–AO99

Announcement of Intent To Initiate the

Process To Designate the

Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Coral

Reef Ecosystem Reserve as a National

Marine Sanctuary; Intent To Prepare a

Draft Environmental Impact Statement

and Management Plan

AGENCY: Marine Sanctuaries Division

(MSD), National Ocean Service (NOS),

National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration, Department of

Commerce (DOC).

ACTION: Notice

SUMMARY: On December 4, 2000,

President William Clinton signed

Executive Order 13178 establishing the

Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Coral

Reef Ecosystem Reserve, pursuant to the

National Marine Sanctuaries

Amendments Act of 2000. The Reserve

extends approximately 1200 nautical

miles long and 100 nautical miles wide.

Pursuant to this Act and the Executive

Order, NOAA, on behalf of the Secretary

is initiating the process to designate the

Reserve as a national marine sanctuary

and will proceed with the subsequent

steps of the designation process. In

designating the sanctuary, the Executive

Order directs NOAA to supplement or

compliment the existing Reserve.

NOAA will prepare an environmental

impact statement and management plan

which will examine the management,

boundary and regulatory alternatives

associated with sanctuary designation.

NOAA will hold scoping meetings to

solicit information and comments on

the range and significance of issues

related to sanctuary designation and

management.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Helen Golde, (301) 713–3125, ext. 152

or helen.golde@noaa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The

National Marine Sanctuaries Act

(NMSA), 16 U.S.C. 1431 et seq.,

authorizes the Secretary of Commerce

(Secretary) to designate discrete areas of

the marine environment as national

marine sanctuaries to protect their

special conservation, recreational,

ecological, historical, cultural,

archaeological, scientific, educational,

or esthetic qualities. The NMSA is

administered by the National Oceanic

and Atmospheric Administration

(NOAA) through the Marine Sanctuaries

Division (MSD).