[Federal Register: March 24, 1998 (Volume 63, Number 56)]
[Notices]               
[Page 14135]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr24mr98-102]

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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

 
Submission of Study Package to Office of Management and Budget; 
Opportunity for Public Comment

AGENCY: Department of the Interior, National Park Service; and 4 units 
of the National Park System.

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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ABSTRACT: The National Park Service (NPS) Visitor Services Project and 
four parks (The Netherlands Carillon/The U.S. Marine Corps War 
memorial--Iwo Jima (part of the George Washington Memorial Parkway), 
the National Monuments and Memorials (National Mall), Klondike Gold 
Rush National Historical Park (Skagway, Alaska), and Whiskeytown 
National Recreation Area) propose to conduct visitor surveys to learn 
about visitor demographics and visitor opinions about services and 
facilities in these four parks. The results of the surveys will be used 
by park managers to improve the services they provide to visitors while 
better protecting park natural and cultural resources. Study packages 
that include the proposed survey questionnaires for these four proposed 
park studies have been submitted to the Office of Management and Budget 
for review.

SUMMARY: Under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 
and 5 CFR Part 1320, Reporting and Record Keeping Requirements, the NPS 
invites public comment on these four proposed information collection 
requests (ICR). Comments are invited on: (1) the need for the 
information including whether the information has practical utility; 
(2) the accuracy of the reporting burden estimate; (3) ways to enhance 
the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; 
and (4) ways to minimize the burden of the information collection on 
respondents, including the use of automated collection techniques or 
other forms of information technology. The purpose of the four proposed 
ICRs is to document the demographics of visitors to the four parks, to 
learn about the motivations and expectations these visitors have for 
their park visits, and to obtain their opinions regarding services 
provided by the four parks and the suitability of the visitor 
facilities maintained in the four parks. This information will be used 
by park planners and managers to plan, develop, and operate visitor 
services and facilities in ways that maximize use of limited park 
financial and personnel resources to meet the expectations and desires 
of park visitors.
    There were no public comments received as a result of publishing in 
the Federal Register a 60 day notice of intention to request clearance 
of information collection for these four surveys.

DATES: Public comments will be accepted on or before April 23, 1998.

SEND COMMENTS TO: Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs of OMB, 
Attention Desk Officer for the Interior Department, Office of 
Management and Budget, Washington, DC 20530; and also to: Margaret 
Littlejohn; Cooperative Park Studies Unit; Department of Forest 
Resources; College of Forestry, Wildlife and Range Sciences; University 
of Idaho; Moscow, ID 83844-1133.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION OR A COPY OF THE STUDY PACKAGES SUBMITTED FOR 
OMB REVIEW, CONTACT: Margaret Littlejohn, phone: 208-885-7863, fax: 
208-885-4261, or email: littlej@uidaho.edu.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Title: National Park Service (NPS) Visitor Services Project Visitor 
Surveys at Four Parks.
    Form: Not applicable.
    OMB Number: To be assigned.
    Expiration Date: To be assigned.
    Type of Request: Request for new clearance.
    Description of Need: The National Park Service needs information 
concerning visitor demographics and visitor opinions about the services 
and facilities that the National Park Service provides in each of these 
four parks. The proposed information to be collected regarding visitors 
in these four parks is not available from existing records, sources, or 
observation.
    Automated Data Collection: At the present time, there is no 
automated way to gather this information, since it includes asking 
visitors to evaluate services and facilities that they used during 
their park visit. The intrusion on visitors to the parks is minimized 
by only contacting visitors during one 7-9 day period at each park.
    Description of Respondents: A sample of visitors to each of these 
four parks.
    Estimated Average Number of Respondents: 800 at The Netherlands 
Carillon/The U.S. Marine Corps War memorial--Iwo Jima, 800 at the 
National Monuments and Memorials (National Mall), 480 at Klondike Gold 
Rush National Historical Park (Skagway, Alaska), and 864 at Whiskeytown 
National Recreation Area.
    Estimated Average Number of Responses: Each respondents will 
respond only one time, so the number of responses will be the same as 
the number of respondents.
    Estimated Average Burden Hours Per Response: 12 minutes.
    Frequency of Response: One time per respondent.
    Estimated Annual Reporting Burden: 160 hours at The Netherlands 
Carillon/The U.S. Marine Corps War memorial--Iwo Jima, 1600 hours at 
the National Monuments and Memorials (National Mall), 96 hours at 
Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park (Skagway, Alaska), and 173 
hours at Whiskeytown National Recreation Area.
Diane M. Cooke,
Information Collection Clearance Officer, WASO Administration Program 
Center, National Park Service.
[FR Doc. 98-7603 Filed 3-23-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-70-M