[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 19 (Monday, January 30, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4577-4578]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-1925]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NRSS-0112-9361; 8542-1003-IZF]


Information Collection Activities: Assessment Tools for Park-
Based Youth Education and Employment Experience Programs

AGENCY: National Park Service (NPS), Interior.

ACTION: Notice; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: We (National Park Service) will ask the Office of Management 
and Budget (OMB) to approve the Information Collection (IC) described 
below. This collection will consist of 9 separate survey instruments. 
As required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, and as part of our 
continuing efforts to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, we invite 
the general public and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity 
to comment on this IC.

DATES: To ensure that your comments on this IC are considered, we must 
receive them on or before March 30, 2012.

ADDRESSES: Please send your comments to Phadrea Ponds, Information 
Collections Coordinator, National Park Service, 1201 Oakridge Drive, 
Fort Collins, CO 80525 (mail); or [email protected] (email). 
Please reference Information Collection 1024-NEW, SAMO Assessment in 
the subject line.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Antonio Solorio at [email protected] (email); or by mail at Santa Monica Mountains National 
Recreation Area, 401 W. Hillcrest Drive; Thousand Oaks, CA 91360.

I. Abstract

    The Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area (SAMO) has 
three programs that provide continuous education and employment 
experience opportunities for diverse students in the vicinity of the 
park. We use a series of surveys to objectively evaluate the short and 
long-term success of these programs in shaping students' attitudes 
toward conservation, their recreational choices, and their career 
interests. Areas of interest include: (1) Understanding and concern for 
natural and cultural resource conservation and stewardship and 
resulting behavior changes both inside and outside parks; (2) Awareness 
and feelings toward the National Park Service; (3) Recreational 
interests and activities; (4) Influences on family and friends' 
attitudes and behaviors; (5) Education and career choices; and (6) 
Usefulness of work experience.
    The SHRUB program provides education and in-depth involvement for 
students and their families in grade school. The EcoHelpers program 
provides one-day service learning programs to high school students. The 
SAMO Youth program provides progressive integrated work experience for 
high school and college students. While SAMO has many observational and 
anecdotal indications of success, no formal tools have been developed 
to evaluate these programs. The goal of this collection is to provide 
scientifically sound and reliable measures of outcomes for the three 
youth education and employment experience programs at SAMO. This 
assessment will be used to build the capacity of park youth program 
managers to help the park achieve its goal of continual program 
improvement and expanded documentation of program impact.

II. Data

    OMB Control Number: 1024-NEW.
    Title: Assessment Tools for Park-Based Youth Education and 
Employment Experience Programs.
    Type of Request: This is a new collection.
    Affected Public: General Public; College students, school aged 
children (elementary, middle and high school), and teachers.
    Respondent Obligation: Voluntary.
    Frequency of Collection: One-time.
    Estimated Number of Annual Responses: 573.

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                                                                                 SAMO Youth
                                             EcoHelpers          SHRUBS            program            Total
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Teachers................................                15                 3                 0                18
Students................................               340               135                80               555
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    Annual Burden Hours: 239 hours. We expect to receive 573 annual 
responses. We estimate an average of 25 minutes per response (5 minutes 
for the initial contact and 20 minutes to complete the survey 
instrument).

[[Page 4578]]



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                                                                                 SAMO Youth
                                             EcoHelpers          SHRUBS            program            Total
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Annual Burden Hours.....................               148                58                33               239
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    Estimated Reporting and Recordkeeping ``Non-Hour Cost'' Burden: We 
have not identified any ``non-hour cost'' burdens associated with this 
collection of information.
    Public Disclosure Statement: The PRA (44 U.S.C. 3501, et seq.) 
provides that an agency may not conduct or sponsor a collection of 
information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number and 
current expiration date.

III. Request for Comments

    We invite comments concerning this IC on: (a) Whether the proposed 
collection of information is necessary for the agency to perform its 
duties, including whether the information is useful; (b) the accuracy 
of the agency's estimate of the burden of the proposed collection of 
information; (c) how to enhance the quality, usefulness, and clarity of 
the information to be collected; and (d) how to minimize the burden on 
the respondents, including the use of automated collection techniques 
or other forms of information technology.
    Please note that the comments submitted in response to this notice 
are a matter of public record. Before including your address, phone 
number, email address, or other personal identifying information in 
your comment, you should be aware that your entire comment, including 
your personal identifying information, may be made publicly available 
at any time.
    While you can ask OMB in your comment to withhold your personal 
identifying information from public review, we cannot guarantee that it 
will be done.

    Dated: January 24, 2012.
Catherine E. Burdett,
Acting Program Manager, Washington Administrative Program Center, 
National Park Service.
[FR Doc. 2012-1925 Filed 1-27-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P