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

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

Submission of Study Package to Office of Management and Budget;

Review Opportunity for Public Comment

AGENCY: Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Cumberland

Island National Seashore in Georgia, Jean Lafitte National Historical

Park and Preserve in Louisiana, and Chattahoochee River National

Recreation Area in Georgia.

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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ABSTRACT: The National Park Service (NPS) Visitor Services Project and

three parks (Cumberland Island National Seashore in Georgia, Jean

Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve in Louisiana, and

Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area in Georgia) propose to

conduct visitor surveys to learn about visitor demographics and visitor

opinions about services and facilities in these three parks. The

results of these studies 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 three 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 three 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 three

proposed ICRs is to document the demographics of visitors to the three

parks, to learn about the motivations and expectations these visitors

have for their park visits, and to obtain their

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opinions regarding services provided by the three parks and the

suitability of the visitor facilities maintained in the three 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 three surveys.

DATES: Public comments will be accepted for thirty days from the date

listed at the top of this page in the Federal Register (March 2, 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:

[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Title: National Park Service (NPS) Visitor Services Project Visitor

Surveys at Three Parks.

Bureau Form Number: 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

three parks. The proposed information to be collected regarding

visitors in these three parks is not available from existing records,

sources, or observations.

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

three parks.

Estimated Average Number of Respondents: 400 at Cumberland Island

National Seashore, 900 at Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and

Preserve, and 800 at Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area.

Estimated Average Number of Responses: Each respondent 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: 80 hours at Cumberland Island

National Seashore, 180 hours at Jean Lafitte National Historical Park

and Preserve, and 160 hours at Chattahoochee River National Recreation

Area.

Diane M. Cooke,

Information Collection Clearance Officer, WASO Administrative Program

Center, National Park Service.

[FR Doc. 98-2331 Filed 1-29-98; 8:45 am]

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