[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 245 (Thursday, December 22, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 78634-78635]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-27891]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service


Information Collection; National Woodland Owner Survey

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 revision of the National Woodland Owner Survey 
information collection.

DATES: Comments must be received in writing on or before February 21, 
2023 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 Brett 
Butler, USDA Forest Service, 160 Holdsworth Way, Amherst, MA 01003. 
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 websites 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 160 Holdsworth Way, Room 201, Amherst, MA 01003 
during normal business hours. Visitors are encouraged to call ahead to 
413-545-1387 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: Brett Butler, Northern Research 
Station, 413-545-1387. 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: National Woodland Owner Survey.
    OMB Number: 0596-0078.
    Type of Request: Revision.
    Abstract: There are an estimated 704 million acres of forestland 
across the United States, excluding interior Alaska. Of this 
forestland, over half is owned by millions of corporations, families, 
individuals, and other private groups with the remaining managed by 
over a thousand different federal, state, and local government agencies 
and tribal organizations. Understanding the attitudes and behaviors of 
the owners and managers of the forestland is critical for understanding 
the current and future state of the nation's forests. The Forest 
Service conducts the National Woodland Owner Survey (NWOS) to increase 
our understanding of:
     Who owns and manages the forestland of the United States;
     Why they own/manage it;
     How they have used it; and
     How they intend to use it.
    This information is used by policy analysts, foresters, educators, 
and researchers to facilitate the planning and implementation of forest 
policies and programs and provides landowners, managers, and the public 
a better understanding of the social context of forests.
    The Forest Service's direction and authority to conduct the NWOS is 
from the Forest and Range Land Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974 
and the Forest and Range Land Renewable Resources Act of 1978. These 
acts assign responsibility for the inventory and assessment of forest 
and related renewable resources to the Forest Service. Additionally, 
the importance of an ownership survey in this inventory and assessment 
process is highlighted in the 2014 Farm Bill, the Agricultural 
Research, Extension, and Education Reform Act of 1998, and the 
recommendations of the Second Blue Ribbon Panel on the Forest Inventory 
and Analysis program (FIA).
    Previous iterations of the NWOS were conducted in 1978, 1993, 2002-
2006, 2011-2013, 2017-2018, and 2019-2023. Approval for the current 
iteration of the NWOS expires on March 31, 2025. Data collection for 
the next iteration is slated for 2024-2028. In order to implement 
changes and expansions made in the survey instruments for the entire 
cycle, we are seeking approval of this revision in time for the start 
of the cycle in 2024. If this revision is approved, the NWOS will be 
permitted to complete the first three years of the 2024-2028 cycle and 
will submit a renewal for completing the final two years of data 
collection at the appropriate time.
    Changes proposed for this revision include minor survey answer 
choice formatting changes on all survey modules, a simplified large 
corporate ownership survey, a new small corporate ownership survey, a 
new tribal module, additional science modules, and additional question 
choices on the state form. Information will be collected related to:
     The characteristics of the land holdings;
     Attitudes and perceptions of the owners and managers;
     Resource uses and management activities; and
     Where applicable, landowner demographics.
    Separate survey instruments are being developed for different 
target populations, including family forest ownerships, corporate and 
other private forest ownerships, private forest ownerships on selected 
U.S. affiliated protectorates and territories, residential urban 
landowners, tribal lands, and public lands. For the families and 
individuals, the dominant ownership group of forestland owners, a 
subset of ownerships will be sent survey instruments addressing the 
following topics, in addition to the core questions from the base 
survey instrument:

 Afforestation
 Agroforestry
 Carbon
 Climate change
 Cross-boundary cooperation
 Decision making
 Energy (solar/wind)
 Heirs' properties
 Invasive species
 Land transfer
 Landowner values
 Sense of place
 Timber
 Wellbeing
 Wildfire

    The NWOS provides widely cited benchmarks for the number, extent, 
and characteristics of owners of forestland in the United States. These 
results have been used to assess the sustainability of forest resources 
at national, regional,

[[Page 78635]]

and state levels; to implement and assess forest-land owner assistance 
programs; and to answer a variety of questions with topics ranging from 
fragmentation to the economics of timber production. This is the only 
effort to collect in-depth information about owners of forestland at 
the national scale. It provides longitudinal data to track ownership 
trends and allows for comparisons across regions of the country.
    The respondents will be a statistically selected group of 
individuals, families, partnerships, corporations, nonprofit 
organizations and other private groups, tribal groups, and public 
landowners that own forestland in the United States. A well 
distributed, random set of sampling points has been established across 
the country. At each point, remotely sensed data, such as aerial 
photographs, will be used to identify forested points. For the forested 
points, public records will be used to identify the owners of record 
(i.e., the names and addresses of the landowners who will be 
contacted). The target number of respondents for the base NWOS 
implementation is 250 per state.
    The NWOS will utilize a mixed-mode survey technique involving 
cognitive interviews, focus groups, self-administered survey, and 
telephone interviews. Cognitive interviews will be used to test 
specific questions and explore new topics or populations of interest. 
Focus groups will be used to provide more in-depth understanding of the 
responses and to explore new areas of inquiry.
    The implementation of the self-administered survey, which will 
represent the majority of the responses, will involve up to four 
contacts. First, a pre-notice postcard will be sent to all potential 
respondents describing this information collection and why the 
information is being collected. Second, a survey with a cover letter 
and pre-paid return envelope will be sent to the potential respondents. 
The cover letter will reiterate the purpose of this information 
collection and provide the respondents with all legally required 
information. Third, a reminder will be mailed to thank the respondents 
and encourage the non-respondents to reply. Those who have yet to 
respond will be sent a new survey, cover letter, and pre-paid return 
envelope. Telephone interviews will be used for follow-up with non-
respondents. For corporations, the primary survey instrument will be 
electronic, and for all other owners, the primary survey instrument 
will be paper forms with the option for completing the survey 
electronically online. We will use Participatory Action Research (PAR) 
and cognitive interviews to explore tribal land ownerships.
    Forest Service researchers will coordinate all components of this 
information collection. Forest Service personnel with assistance 
provided by cooperators at the Family Forest Research Center located at 
the University of Massachusetts Amherst will conduct the mail portion 
of the survey, cognitive interviews, focus groups, and telephone 
follow-ups. Data will be compiled and edited by Forest Service and 
Family Forest Research Center personnel. Forest Service researchers and 
cooperators will analyze the collected data. National, regional, and 
state-level results will be publicly available and electronically 
distributed.
    This information collection will generate scientifically based, 
statistically-reliable, up-to-date information about the owners of 
forestland in the United States. The results of these efforts will 
provide more reliable information on this important and dynamic segment 
of the United States population, thus facilitating more complete 
assessments of the country's forestland resources and improved planning 
and implementation of forestry programs on state, regional, and 
national levels.
    Affected Public: Individuals and households and the private sector 
(businesses and non-profit organizations), tribes, and public entities.
    Estimate of Burden per Response: 25 minutes for families, 
individuals, and other private groups with small holdings; 30 minutes 
for corporations with large holdings; 60 minutes for tribal entities, 
and 15 minutes for public entities.
    Estimated Annual Number of Respondents: 5,291.
    Estimated Annual Number of Responses per Respondent: 1.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden on Respondents: 3,861 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.

Linda S. Heath,
Acting Deputy Chief, Research & Development.
[FR Doc. 2022-27891 Filed 12-21-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3411-15-P