Extension of Currently Approved Information Collection for Interpretive Services Program

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service

Extension of Currently Approved Information Collection for

Interpretive Services Program

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of intent; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the

Forest Service announces its intent to request an extension of a

currently approved information collection. The Cooperative Funds and

Deposits Act of 1975 (16 U.S.C. 565a through 565a-3) authorizes the

Forest Service to enter into cooperative agreements with interpretive

associations to provide interpretive services and educational

literature for visitors on National Forest System lands. As part of the

cooperative agreement, the Forest Service requires that the

interpretive associations submit to the agency, annually, information

regarding the types of interpretive services and educational literature

provided. This collected information is used to compile the national

report, ``National Interpretative Associations Annual Report,'' for the

Chief of the Forest Service. The agency will use the collected

information to evaluate cooperative agreements between the Forest

Service and interpretive associations and to ensure effective

management of the agency's interpretive services program. Information

is requested using the Forest Service 2300-5 Annual Report Interpretive

Associations Form.

DATES: Comments must be received in writing on or before May 13, 1997.

ADDRESSES: All comments should be addressed to: Director, Recreation,

Heritage, and Wilderness Resources (MAIL STOP 1125), Forest Service,

USDA, P.O. Box 96090, Washington, D.C. 20090-6090.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Richard Calnan, Recreation, Heritage,

and Wilderness Resources Staff, at (202) 205-1228.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Description of Information Collection

The following describes the information collection to be extended:

Title: FS-2300-5 Annual Report Interpretive Associations.

OMB Number: 0596-0097.

Expiration Date of Approval: June 30, 1997.

Type of Request: Extension of a previously approved information

collection.

Abstract: For over 20 years, the Forest Service has entered into

cooperative agreements with interpretive associations under the

authority of the Cooperative Funds and Deposits Act of 1975 (16 U.S.C.

565a-1 through 565a-3) to provide interpretive services and educational

materials to the public. Fifty-eight interpretive associations have

signed cooperative agreements with the Forest Service for fiscal year

1997 on 122 National Forests.

Interpretive associations develop and publish educational materials

about National Forest System land resources and programs, with the

assistance of Forest Service employees. The associations also conduct

field seminars, operate concession campgrounds under special use

permits, and raise funds for projects and programs on National Forest

System lands. Each year interpretive associations donate funds,

employee staff time, and materials worth over $1 million in support of

the agency's interpretive services program.

Forest Service policy requires that interpretive associations

provide to the Regional Forester and Forest Supervisor an annual

narrative, accomplishment report, and financial statement by March 1

each year. The Forest Service compiles the reports submitted to the

Regional Foresters into a national report, ``National Interpretative

Associations Annual Report,'' for the Chief of the Forest Service. The

reports to the Regional Foresters also are used to compile an annual

``Directory of Interpretive Associations.'' The Directory is used by

other Federal agencies and entities wishing to do business with

interpretive associations that have entered into cooperative agreements

with the Forest Service. The Forest Service will use FS-2300-5 Annual

Report Interpretive Associations Form to collect the information for

the reports. The Form is divided into five parts.

Part I asks for the name, address and telephone number of the

association; the name of the Forest Service Region with which the

association has entered into an agreement; the name(s) of the national

forests with which the association is affiliated; the names of any

other Forest Service Regions within which the association operates; and

the names of any other agencies the association serves. For example,

the Northwest Interpretive Association operates in Forest Service

Regions 1, 5, and 6, and serves the Forest Service, National Park

Service, Bureau of Land Management, and Department of the Army, Corps

of Engineers.

Part II asks for the interpretive association's gross receipts for

the fiscal year. Gross receipts are the sum of the following line

items: (a) sales of printed materials, such as books and pamphlets; (b)

sales of audio-visual aids, such as video tapes, slides, and posters;

(c) sales of theme-related objects or products, such as stuffed animals

with a companion book for children; (d) sales of visitor convenience

items, such as food, film, and stamps; (e) receipts from presentations,

such as guided tours through National Forest System lands, or special

movies or videos, such as the Chugach National Forest, Alaska video,

``Prince William Sound--Where an Ocean of Time Meets a Land of

Change;'' and (f) receipts from membership dues, donations, gifts,

interest income, and other as specified.

Part III asks for the total amount in dollars of benefits provided

by the interpretive association to the Forest Service during the fiscal

year. The total dollar benefits equate to the sum of the costs to the

association of the following line items: (a) the cost of signs provided

by the interpretive association, such as interpretive signs on the

Shallow Flats Wetland Trail in Kentucky; (b) the cost of designing,

fabricating, and installing new exhibits, such as the exhibit at the

Mount St. Helens Visitor Center at Silver Lake, Washington; (c) the

cost of providing equipment necessary to accomplishing the interpretive

services mission, such as the purchase of a computer to monitor

earthquake activity in the Eastern Sierra, California; (d) the cost of

equipment, supplies, and travel necessary to conduct research

activities, such as field trips to the Mount Evans Byway in Colorado to

produce an audio tape tour, guide book, and Jr. Ranger book about the

area; (e) the cost of providing free publications to the public; (f)

the cost of improving recreational facilities, such as cleaning

campgrounds and picnic sites, clearing and maintaining trails, or

repairing and rehabilitating structures like the historic Ice House and

the McKenzie house at the Custer Townsite in South Dakota; (g) the cost

of improvements to wildlife habitat or of range, forest, or watershed

projects, such as the eagle habitat study program in California; (h)

the cost of special events, such as a visitor facility dedication; (i)

the cost of training and educational programs, such as developing a

curriculum guide for

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teachers that focuses on the wildflower resources of the Columbia River

Gorge National Scenic Area; (j) the value of the time donated by

interpretive association staff and volunteers to represent the agency

in parades and to staff booths or interpretive tables at community

events; and (k) other costs necessary to accomplishing the Forest

Services interpretive services mission.

Part IV asks for a brief description of the interpretive

association's program and its accomplishments during the fiscal year,

such as completion of an accessible interpretive kiosk at Cle Elum

Ranger Station, Washington. Part V asks for a brief description of the

planned program of work for the next fiscal year.

Data gathered in this information collection is not available from

other sources.

Estimate of Burden: 1 hour.

Type of Respondents: Executive Directors of Interpretive

Associations.

Estimated Number of Respondents: 60.

Estimated Number of Responses per Respondent: 1.

Estimated Total Annual Burden on Respondents: 60 hours.

The agency invites comments on the following: (a) Whether the

proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper

performance of the functions of the agency, including whether the

information will have practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the

agency's estimate of the burden of the proposed collection of

information, including the validity of the methodology and assumptions

used; (c) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the

information to be collected; and (d) 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.

Use of Comments

All comments received in response to this notice will be summarized

and included in the request for Office of Management and Budget

approval. All comments will also become a matter of public record.

Dated: March 7, 1997.

Barbara C. Weber,

Acting Chief.

[FR Doc. 97-6501 Filed 3-13-97; 8:45 am]

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