[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 113 (Monday, June 14, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 33573-33574]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-14203]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service


Information Collection; Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research 
Institute Wilderness Visitor Study

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice; request for comment.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the 
Forest Service is seeking comments from all interested individuals and 
organizations on the new information collection: Aldo Leopold 
Wilderness Research Institute Wilderness Visitor Study.

DATES: Comments must be received in writing on or before August 13, 
2010 to be assured of consideration. Comments received after that date 
will be considered to the extent practicable.

ADDRESSES: Comments concerning this notice should be addressed to Alan 
Watson, Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute, USDA Forest Service 
Rocky Mountain Research Station, 790 E. Beckwith Ave., Missoula, MT 
59801. Comments also may be submitted via e-mail to: [email protected].
    The public may inspect comments received at the Aldo Leopold 
Wilderness Research Institute, USDA Forest Service Rocky Mountain 
Station, 790 E. Beckwith Ave., Missoula, MT, during normal business 
hours. Visitors are encouraged to call ahead to 406-542-4197 to 
facilitate entry to the building.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Alan Watson, Aldo Leopold Wilderness 
Research Institute at 406-542-4197. Individuals who use TDD may call 
the Federal Relay Service (FRS) at 1-800-877-8339, between 8 a.m. and 8 
p.m., Eastern Standard Time, Monday through Friday.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Title: Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute Wilderness 
Visitor Study.
    OMB Number: 0596-NEW.
    Type of Request: NEW.
    Abstract: The Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute in 
Missoula, Montana, works under an interagency agreement with the 
Department of the Interior, National Park Service, to provide 
information to support management planning for public wild lands. 
Management of specific parks are directed by laws, policies, and 
Wilderness Stewardship Plans. The Wilderness Act of 1964 directs the 
National Wilderness Preservation System be managed to protect natural 
wilderness conditions and to provide outstanding opportunities for the 
public to find solitude or primitive and unconfined types of 
recreational experiences. The National Park Service is expected to 
understand trends in numbers of visitors; patterns of use; and how 
users feel about administrative facilities, trail conditions, and 
policies aimed at controlling visitor impacts to wilderness ecosystems.
    To help meet the National Park Service's mandates related to 
wilderness recreation, scientists at the Aldo Leopold Wilderness 
Research Institute have a long history of periodically monitoring and 
reporting to managers and the public trends in use, user

[[Page 33574]]

characteristics, and visitor input on management actions for National 
Park Wilderness. Emphasis is often on how well the public perceives the 
National Park Service is meeting the mandate of guiding legislation. 
National Park personnel use the collected information to ensure that 
the Agency is meeting their legislated mandates, understanding how 
visitors' recreational activities influence the natural resources of 
the park, and making certain that wilderness-type recreation 
experiences are protected.
    Managers at Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks have requested 
assistance from the Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute to 
gather, analyze, and report on information from visitors to contribute 
to wilderness stewardship planning. Sequoia and Kings Canyon National 
Parks in California contain 808,000 acres of federally protected 
wilderness and another 30,000 acres are managed as wilderness per 
National Park Service policies. Managers desire to understand visitor 
attitudes about administrative and scientific facilities in the 
wilderness, methods used to protect wilderness conditions and social 
conditions, actions taken by managers to control impacts, visitor 
perceptions of wilderness character trends, and demographics of 
visitors. The data from this information collection will be stored at 
the Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute in Missoula, Montana. 
Scientists working at the Research Institute will conduct the data 
analysis.
    The National Park Service will use information from this collection 
to help make the Wilderness Stewardship Plan responsive to legislative 
and policy guidelines as well as acknowledging a changing client base 
of American citizens and foreign visitors through creating 
understanding of:
    1. How users feel about such administrative facilities as ranger 
stations, crew camps, and radio repeaters; user support facilities such 
as food storage lockers, bridges, and signs; research support 
facilities such as wells, plot markers, weirs and snow pillows; trail 
quality; hand held technology use, and short-term manipulations of 
conditions to achieve long-term naturalness goals;
    2. How different kinds of visitors (e.g., overnight users, hikers, 
stock users, outfitted, and non-outfitted groups) feel about the level 
of isolation and immersion in nature they perceive; how they evaluate 
encounters with others; and how they evaluate visitor impacts and 
management actions taken to control those impacts;
    3. How different kinds of users define the most important elements 
of the wilderness environment and social conditions, such as 
naturalness, wildness, challenge, self-reliance, crowding, and 
aesthetics; and
    4. How current visitor use characteristics, attitudes and use 
patterns differ from those observed in the past and at other places, 
and how they may be projected to differ in the future.
    Respondents will be overnight recreation visitors to the wilderness 
of Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks during the summers of 2011 
and 2012. Visitors will be contacted from information they provide in 
their required overnight wilderness permits. Visitors will be provided 
alternative methods of response to the survey about their recreation 
experience in the Park: (1) Mail the survey to the Leopold Institute 
using a postage paid envelope, (2) receive an electronic e-mail form of 
the survey, or (3) access a web-based form of the electronic survey. 
All responses will be voluntary. Data collected in this information 
collection are not available from other sources and nothing comparable 
has been collected at Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks since 
1990.
    This survey will only ask overnight recreation visitors questions 
about their recreation visit, their personal demographics relevant to 
education and service provision, and factors that have influenced or 
are likely to influence their recreational wilderness visits. Survey 
respondents will be told that this information is voluntary and in 
confidence (their names will not be connected to their responses in any 
way).
    Estimate of Annual Burden: 20 minutes.
    Type of Respondents: Individuals.
    Estimated Annual Number of Respondents: 500.
    Estimated Annual Number of Responses per Respondent: 1.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden on Respondents: 167 hours.
    Comment is invited on: (1) Whether this collection of information 
is necessary for the stated purposes and the proper performance of the 
functions of the National Park Service, including whether the 
information will have practical or scientific utility; (2) the accuracy 
of the Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute's estimate of the 
burden of the collection of information, including the validity of the 
methodology and assumptions used; (3) ways to enhance the quality, 
utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and (4) 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.
    All comments received in response to this notice, including names 
and addresses when provided, will be a matter of public record. 
Comments will be summarized and included in the submission request 
toward Office of Management and Budget approval.

     Dated: June 7, 2010.
Angela V. Coleman,
Associate Deputy Director, Research & Development.
[FR Doc. 2010-14203 Filed 6-11-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-11-P