[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 162 (Thursday, August 21, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 49492-49493]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-19428]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service


Information Collection; Generic Information Collection Clearance 
for Large-Scale Collaborative Landscape Restoration Projects

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 proposed new information collection, Generic 
Information Collection Clearance for Large-Scale Collaborative 
Landscape Restoration Projects.

Participating Agencies

    The following Federal land management agencies are included:

 Department of Agriculture: Forest Service, lead agency;
 Department of the Interior: Bureau of Land Management

DATES: Comments must be received in writing on or before October 20, 
2014 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 Sandy 
Mack, Southwestern Crown Collaborative Liaison Officer, Fort Missoula 
24, Missoula, MT 59804. Comments also may be submitted by email to: 
[email protected].
    Comments submitted in response to this notice may be made available 
to the public through relevant Web sites and upon request. For this 
reason, please do not include in your comments information of a 
confidential nature, such as sensitive personal information or 
proprietary information. If you send an email comment, your email 
address will be automatically captured and included as part of the 
comment that is placed in the public docket and made available on the 
Internet. Please note that responses to this public comment request 
containing any routine notice about the confidentiality of the 
communication will be treated as public comments that may be made 
available to the public notwithstanding the inclusion of the routine 
notice.
    The public may inspect the draft supporting statement and/or 
comments received at Fort Missoula 24, Missoula, MT, during normal 
business hours. Visitors are encouraged to call ahead to 406-544-4592 
to facilitate entry to the building. The public may request an 
electronic copy of the draft supporting statement and/or any comments 
received be sent via return email. Requests should be emailed to 
[email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sandy Mack, 406-544-4592. Individuals 
who use telecommunication devices for the deaf (TDD) may call the 
Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1-800-877-8339, twenty-four 
hours a day, every day of the year, including holidays.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Title: Generic Information Collection Clearance for Large-Scale 
Landscape Restoration Collaborative Projects.
    OMB Number: 0596--NEW.
    Type of Request: New.
    Abstract:. In response to two recent Federal Actions, it has become 
necessary to request a Generic Information Collection Request (ICR) in 
order to collect information from stakeholders who are either involved 
with or live or work in and around, large-scale collaborative landscape 
restoration projects.
    Large-scale collaborative landscape restoration projects are 
projects where interested parties, such as neighboring land owners, 
State, local, and Tribal governments, businesses, and nonprofit 
organizations work with a Federal government agency to find common 
ground pertaining to geographically extensive land management, often 
across multiple jurisdictions. Examples of a large-scale collaborative 
project include, but are not limited to, projects performed under the 
authority of the Forest Landscape Restoration Act of 2009 and during 
the development of Land Management Plans. An example of a Forest 
Landscape Restoration Act project is the Southwestern Crown 
Collaborative (SWCC), which is one of the 23 current Collaborative 
Forest Landscape Restoration (CFLR) projects across the nation. In the 
SWCC collaborators and other partners work with the Forest Service to 
implement restoration work and multi-party monitoring of the landscape 
restoration treatments across four counties and three National Forests.
    The Forest Landscape Restoration Act (FLRA) of 2009 (16 U.S.C. 
7303), which enabled the Collaborative Landscape Restoration program, 
requires the USDA Forest Service (USFS) to monitor socio-economic 
impacts of collaborative restoration activities within the project 
site. The purpose of contacting stakeholders is to get their input and 
feedback on the land management practices and the associated socio-
economic impacts.
    Development of Land Management Plans (LMP) pursuant to the National 
Forest Management Act of 1976 and the 2012 Planning Rule (36 CFR Part 
219) requires a transparent, collaborative, and informed planning 
process. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the USFS collaboration 
on large-scale projects also extends beyond CFLR and Management Plans. 
Gaining information from individuals who work or live in the geographic 
area of collaborative large-scale projects provides valuable 
information to partners and land management decision makers.
    To ensure the Agency is informed about the opinions of participants 
of collaborative processes and public members living in or around 
large-scale collaborative projects, the Forest Service and the BLM seek 
to obtain OMB approval of a generic clearance to collect both 
qualitative and quantitative feedback from stakeholders of large-scale 
landscape restoration projects, monitoring activities, and land 
management planning.
    Information will be collected from stakeholders of large-scale 
Federal landscape projects, such as State, local, and Tribal government 
representatives, community leaders, non-profit organizations, interest 
groups, collaborators, partners, residents, local businesses, and any 
other concerned parties.
    The information will be collected through a variety of ways, 
including but not limited to:
     Census surveys of partners/participants of a collaborative 
project.
     Mail-in, on-line, and hard copy in person surveys.
     Stakeholder interviews.
     Stakeholder comment cards/complaint forms.
     Small discussion groups.
     Focus groups.
     Cognitive laboratory studies, such as those used to refine 
survey questions or assess usability of a Web site.
     Qualitative stakeholder surveys.
     Quantitative stakeholder surveys.
     In-person observation testing (for example, Web site or 
software usability tests).
     Targeted requests for information.
     Telephonic and in-person interviews.
     Other innovative communication strategies designed to 
facilitate voluntary provision of information by

[[Page 49493]]

the public with minimal burden that may be approved by OMB.
    Results from information gathered pursuant to this Generic ICR will 
assist program managers in evaluating the positive and negative social 
and economic effects of collaborative project implementation. Results 
will also inform the adaptive management process required by the FLRA; 
results of these efforts will assist USFS and BLM forest planners in 
meeting the collaborative and public input requirement of the 2012 
Forest Planning Rule. Through the collection of this information, 
managers and planners will obtain valuable information to inform future 
decisions. Agency public affairs staff, social scientists, and 
economists may also use this information, and Agency, academic, and 
other researchers may use or cite the results or data collected in 
publications.
    Without the collection of this information, the USFS and/or the BLM 
will be unable to determine whether it is meeting the requirements of 
the Forest Landscape Restoration Act, nor if they are fully 
incorporating partner and public input into forest project, 
implementation, monitoring and/or planning processes as required by 
law.
    Type of Respondents: Stakeholders of large-scale landscape 
restoration projects, such as neighboring land owners, State, local, 
and Tribal government representatives, businesses, interest groups, and 
nonprofit organizations.
    Estimated Annual Number of Respondents: 48,000.
    Estimated Annual Number of Responses per Respondent: 1.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden hours on Respondents: 38,000 hours.
    Comment is Invited:
    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 Agency, including whether the information will have 
practical or scientific utility; (2) the accuracy of the Agency'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: August 12, 2014.
Gregory C. Smith,
Acting Associate Deputy Chief, National Forest System.
[FR Doc. 2014-19428 Filed 8-20-14; 8:45 am]
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