Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the Office of Management and Budget; Programmatic Clearance for U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Social Science Research

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Published

March 12, 2024

Issuing agencies

Interior DepartmentFish and Wildlife Service

Abstract

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, we, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), are proposing a new information collection.

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<title>Federal Register, Volume 89 Issue 49 (Tuesday, March 12, 2024)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 49 (Tuesday, March 12, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 17865-17868]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2024-05184]

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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[FWS-HQ-NWRS-2024-N008; FXRS126109HD000-245-FF09R23000; OMB Control
Number 1018-New]

Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the
Office of Management and Budget; Programmatic Clearance for U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service Social Science Research

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of information collection; request for comment.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, we,
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), are proposing a new
information collection.

DATES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments on or before
April 11, 2024.

ADDRESSES: Written comments and recommendations for the proposed
information collection should be submitted within 30 days of
publication of this notice at <a href="https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain">https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain</a>. Find this particular information collection by selecting
``Currently under Review--Open for Public Comments'' or by using the
search function. Please provide a copy of your comments to the Service
Information Collection Clearance Officer, U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service, MS: PRB (JAO/3W), 5275 Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, VA 22041-
3803 (mail); or by email to <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#fcb5929a93a3bf939090bc9a8b8fd29b938a"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="f0b99e969fafb39f9c9cb0968783de979f86">[email&#160;protected]</span></a>. Please reference ``1018-
USFWS Programmatic'' in the subject line of your comments.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Madonna Baucum, Service Information
Collection Clearance Officer, by email at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#da93b4bcb58599b5b6b69abcada9f4bdb5ac"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="0940676f66564a666565496f7e7a276e667f">[email&#160;protected]</span></a>, or by
telephone at (703) 358-2503. Individuals in the United States who are
deaf, deafblind, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability may dial
711 (TTY, TDD, or TeleBraille) to access telecommunications relay
services. Individuals outside the United States should use the relay
services offered within their country to make international calls to
the point-of-contact in the United States.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction
Act of 1995 (PRA, 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.) and 5 CFR 1320.8(d)(1), we
provide the general public and other Federal agencies with an
opportunity to comment on new, proposed, revised, and continuing
collections of information. This helps us assess the impact of our
information collection requirements and minimize the public's reporting
burden. It also helps the public understand our information collection
requirements and provide the requested data in the desired format.
On October 2, 2023, we published in the Federal Register (88 FR
67792) a notice of our intent to request that OMB approve this
information collection. In that notice, we solicited comments for 60
days, ending on December 1, 2023. In an effort to increase public
awareness of, and participation in, our public commenting processes
associated with information collection requests (ICRs), the Service
also published the Federal Register notice on <a href="http://Regulations.gov">Regulations.gov</a> (Docket
No. FWS-HQ-NWRS-2023-0126). We received five comments (described below)
in response to that notice:
Comments 1 and 2: Two comments objected to collecting information
from specific populations and the effectiveness of survey's information
collection tools.
Agency Response to Comments 1 and 2: Input from a variety of
populations and recreation groups is critical to a robust understanding
of potential impacts from management, planning, and policy decisions.
Information collection and understanding social landscapes help the
Service better meet its mission of working with others to conserve,
protect, and enhance fish, wildlife, and plants and their habitats for
the continuing benefit of the American People. The agency took no
action to unilaterally exclude public input from certain recreation
groups or prevent stakeholder input as a tool to inform decisions.
Comment 3: One comment was about the appropriate use of animals for
hunting, fishing, and trapping.
Agency Response to Comment 3: The agency took no action from this
comment, as it is unrelated to the information collection.
Comments 4 and 5: Two comments were supportive the use of
information collection to better understand customers. One of these
comments also discussed methods to improve inclusivity and reduce
agency burden with the use of technology.
Agency Response to Comments 4 and 5: The agency appreciates support
of its efforts and suggestions to improve information collection. When
appropriate, individual information collections may include methods
such

[[Page 17866]]

as online data collection or QR code recruitment. As noted in comment
5, it may be more difficult to reach certain populations, and reaching
these populations may necessitate the use of sampling methods such as
in-person recruitment. The agency took no action, as each information
collection submitted through this clearance will be evaluated if
sampling methods appropriately reach the population of interest.
On April 17, 2020, we published in the Federal Register (85 FR
21450) a notice of our intent to request that OMB approve this
information collection. In that notice, we solicited comments for 60
days, ending on June 16, 2020. We did not receive any comments in
response to that notice.
On October 12, 2016, we published in the Federal Register (81 FR
70437) a notice of our intent to request that OMB approve this
information collection. In that notice, we solicited comments for 60
days, ending on December 12, 2016. We received three nonsubstantive
comments in response to that notice which did not address the
information collection comments. No responses were required to those
comments.
As part of our continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent
burdens, we invite the public and other Federal agencies to comment on
new, proposed, revised, and continuing collections of information. This
helps us assess the impact of our information collection requirements
and minimize the public's reporting burden. It also helps the public
understand our information collection requirements and provide the
requested data in the desired format.
We are especially interested in public comment addressing the
following:
(1) Whether or not the collection of information is necessary for
the proper performance of the functions of the agency, including
whether or not the information will have practical utility;
(2) The accuracy of our estimate of the burden for this 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) How might the agency minimize the burden of the collection of
information on those who are to respond, including through the use of
appropriate automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological
collection techniques or other forms of information technology, e.g.,
permitting electronic submission of response.
Comments that you submit in response to this notice are a matter of
public record. We will include or summarize each comment in our request
to OMB to approve this ICR. 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 us in your comment to withhold your
personal identifying information from public review, we cannot
guarantee that we will be able to do so.
Abstract: Monitoring and evaluating U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
(Service) activities, including the activities of the National Wildlife
Refuge System (Refuge System), is an essential component of strategic
and adaptive management. The collection of information is necessary to
enable the Service to garner customer and stakeholder feedback in an
efficient, timely manner, in accordance with our commitment to improved
service delivery and customer experience. In particular, collection of
information and rigorous social science inquiries are necessary for the
Service to fulfil the goals of the President's Executive Order (E.O.)
14008, Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad; the principles
of the Service's community-focused Urban Wildlife Conservation Program;
a commitment to serving a broader and more diverse public; and a better
understanding of the needs and perspectives of Tribal Nations and
Native communities.
The proposed programmatic clearance would cover social science
surveys, interviews, and focus groups designed to provide information
to Service managers and practitioners to improve quality and utility of
agency programs, services, and planning efforts. To ensure continuous
improvement, Service activities and projects require ongoing systematic
assessment of their design, implementation, and outcomes. Data from
collections undertaken through the proposed programmatic clearance
would provide information for planning, monitoring, and evaluating
Refuge System efforts, as well as efforts of other Service programs.
The scope of this programmatic clearance includes individual surveys;
focus groups; and interviews of refuge visitors, potential visitors,
residents of communities near Service-managed units, and stakeholders
and partners, including Tribal interests.
The President's E.O. 14008 sets the goal of conserving ``at least
30 percent of our lands and waters by 2030,'' through the Conserving
and Restoring America the Beautiful campaign. A collaborative approach
is needed to achieve the principles for locally led efforts and better
understand the patterns and trends occurring across public lands and
waters. The Service's national visitor survey is one approach to
collecting information from the public related to visitation across the
Refuge System. The national visitor survey seeks to understand the
recreation trends and experiences of visitors at refuges to better
manage for future visitation that aligns with national conservation
goals. One of the recommendations for early focus and progress in the
America the Beautiful campaign is the increase of access to outdoor
recreation, a management objective that the monitoring data from the
visitor survey can help to inform.
The Service's Urban Wildlife Conservation program (Urban program)
was established as a means to engage with urban communities more
meaningfully in fish and wildlife conservation. It enumerates
designation criteria for urban wildlife refuges (urban refuges),
partnerships, and bird treaty cities, and describes how the standards
of excellence apply to urban refuges and other urban activities. The
Urban program aligns particularly well with the Department of the
Interior's focus on equity and environmental justice, work that helps
to achieve one of the President's Four Pillars (Racial Equity). Another
recommendation outlined in the Conserving and Restoring America the
Beautiful campaign includes creating safe outdoor opportunities in
nature-deprived communities, a goal of which the Urban program is
helping to achieve.
The Service is required to ``evaluate and adapt'' the practices of
the Urban program through internal review of the urban entities by the
Division of Visitor Services and Communications every 5 years,
including an expanded visitor services review for the Urban Refuges as
per Policy 110 FW 1. The Division ``must analyze the people they are
reaching and conduct approved visitor use surveys to monitor the
changes and track audience engagement.'' In addition, the Service is
committed to evaluating progress and measuring success of the Urban
Program's standards of excellence, such as ``know and relate to the
community; connect urban residents with nature through the
steppingstones of engagement; and ensure visitors feel safe and
welcome.''
The Service's Human Dimensions (HD) Branch, programmatically
aligned within the National Wildlife Refuge System, will serve as the
office of control for the programmatic clearance.

[[Page 17867]]

The role of the HD Branch is to build conservation social science
understanding, capacity, and integration within the Service. A suite of
questions will serve as the basis for all information collections under
this programmatic clearance. The suite of questions will be used to
develop surveys to respond to the above-named Presidential Priorities
as well as adaptively ensure improved customer experience and
satisfaction. As the office of control, the HD branch ICR Coordinator
will conduct the necessary quality control, including assuring that
each survey instrument comports with the guidelines of the programmatic
clearance.
We developed the following topic areas within the suite of
questions to streamline the ICR process:
(1) Respondent Characteristics (e.g., demographics, land and
property characteristics, and visits to other public lands). This topic
area allows us to understand customer demographic profiles and track
visitation trends more holistically over time.
(2) Communication (e.g., languages spoken, sources of information
used, and use of social media and other web-based outlets). This topic
area allows us to understand customer preferences for finding
information.
(3) Trip Planning and Logistics (e.g., purpose of trip, information
on wayfinding used, and various trip characteristics). This topic area
allows us to understand the logistics and information involved with a
customer's trip planning experience and make strategic transportation
decisions.
(4) Recreation Activities, Experiences, and Preferences (e.g.,
recreation activity preferences, experience, and satisfaction). This
topic area allows us to better why customers visit, understand
preferences for wildlife-dependent recreation, and provide a quality
customer experiences at specific sites.
(5) Knowledge, Attitudes, and Beliefs (e.g., understanding and
opinions around nature, the outdoors, climate change, and the agency).
This topic area allows us to improve future programming and
communications with customers.
(6) Resource Management Perceptions and Preferences (e.g.,
attitudes around resource protection, transportation needs, and other
management decisions). This topic area allows us to understand current
customer perceptions and anticipate how customers would most likely
react to future management actions.
(7) Visitor Expenditures and Economic Inputs (e.g., trip expenses,
information on local businesses, and landowner contributions). This
topic area allows us to gather economic data related to conservation
goals of the agency.
(8) Public, Stakeholder, and Partner Engagement (e.g.,
participation in programs, partnerships, and various conservation
actions). This topic area allows us to understand if and how the
customer dedicates their time to conservation-related actions.
(9) Program Evaluation (e.g., learning outcomes, program experience
rating, and satisfaction). This topic area allows us to better assess
overall program outcomes and performance to improve future programming.
To qualify for the generic programmatic review process, each
individual collection under this programmatic clearance must be well
defined in terms of its sample or respondent pool and research
methodology, it should clearly fit within the overall plan and scope of
the approved ICR, and the survey questions must show a clear tie to
Service management needs. Individual collections may not raise any
controversial policy issues, include topics of significant public
interest, or go beyond the methods specified and approved by OMB in
this programmatic ICR. Any individual collection that requests
nonagency goal-related data or information on controversial topics
would be inappropriate for expedited review under this programmatic
clearance and must go through the full PRA clearance process to solicit
public feedback. In instances where HD Branch staff are involved with
the development of the individual information collection, other
uninvolved staff in the HD Branch or a member of the ICR review team
would review the ICR.
We will obtain OMB approval of all individual survey submissions
developed using the pre-approved suite of questions before the survey
can be initiated. If, after consultation with the principal
investigator, the ICR coordinator recommends a proposed survey for
approval, both the Service and Departmental Information Collection
Clearance Officers will review the ICR before it is formally
transmitted to OMB for review and approval.
Title of Collection: Programmatic Clearance for U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service Social Science Research.
OMB Control Number: 1018-New.
Form Number: None.
Type of Review: New.
Respondents/Affected Public: Persons visiting units managed by the
Service; potential visitors, including ``virtual visitors'' who access
content from a Service website; local community members; educators
taking part in programs both on and off Service lands; government
officials representing the local area; landowners; partners;
stakeholders; and Tribal interests.
Respondent's Obligation: Voluntary.
Frequency of Collection: On occasion.
Total Estimated Annual Nonhour Burden Cost: None.

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Annual estimates
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Mode Completion time
Number of per response Burden hours **
respondents (avg. minutes)
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On-site, mail, internet surveys *...................... 20,333 20 6,778
Telephone surveys...................................... 833 25 347
All nonresponse surveys................................ 784 5 65
Focus groups/in-person interviews...................... 59 60 59
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Annual Total....................................... 22,009 ................. 7,249
3-Year Total................................... 66,027 ................. 21,747
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* Includes 2-minute contact time for some surveys, interviews, and focus groups, and approximately 2,500
electronic surveys.
** All figures are rounded.

An agency may not conduct or sponsor and a person is not required
to respond to a collection of information unless it displays a
currently valid OMB control number.

[[Page 17868]]

The authority for this action is the Paperwork Reduction Act of
1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.).

Madonna Baucum,
Information Collection Clearance Officer, U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service.
[FR Doc. 2024-05184 Filed 3-11-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4333-15-P

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