Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposals, Submissions, and Approvals:

Federal Register Volume 76, Number 139 (Wednesday, July 20, 2011)

Notices

Pages 43337-43339

From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]

FR Doc No: 2011-18252

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

FWS-R9-R-2011-N152; 93261-12630000-9X

Proposed Information Collection; Hunting and Fishing Application

Forms and Activity Reports for National Wildlife Refuges

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice; request for comments.

SUMMARY: We (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service) will ask the Office of

Management and Budget (OMB) to renew approval for the information collection (IC) described below. As required by the Paperwork Reduction

Act of 1995 and as part of our continuing efforts to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, we invite the general public and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on this IC. This IC is scheduled to expire on January 31, 2012. We 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 43338

DATES: To ensure that we are able to consider your comments on this IC, we must receive them by September 19, 2011.

ADDRESSES: Send your comments on the IC to the Service Information

Collection Clearance Officer, Fish and Wildlife Service, MS 2042-PDM, 4401 North Fairfax Drive, Arlington, VA 22203 (mail); or

INFOCOL@fws.gov (e-mail). Please include ``1018-0140'' in the subject line of your comments.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To request additional information about this IC, contact Hope Grey at INFOCOL@fws.gov (e-mail) or 703- 358-2482 (telephone).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

  1. Abstract

    The National Wildlife Refuge System Administration Act of 1966 (16

    U.S.C. 668dd-668ee), as amended (Administration Act), and the Refuge

    Recreation Act of 1962 (16 U.S.C. 460k-460k-4) (Recreation Act) govern the administration and uses of national wildlife refuges and wetland management districts. The Administration Act consolidated all the different refuge areas into a single Refuge System. It also authorizes us to permit public uses, including hunting and fishing, on lands of the Refuge System when we find that the activity is compatible and appropriate with the purpose for which the refuge was established. The

    Recreation Act allows the use of refuges for public recreation when the use is not inconsistent or does not interfere with the primary purpose(s) of the refuge.

    There are 408 national wildlife refuges where we administer hunting and/or fishing programs. We only collect user information at about 20 percent of these refuges. Information that we plan to collect will help us:

    Administer and monitor hunting and fishing programs on refuges.

    Distribute hunting and fishing permits in a fair and equitable manner to eligible participants.

    We use nine application and report forms associated with hunting and fishing on refuges. We may not allow all opportunities on all refuges; therefore, we developed different forms to simplify the process and avoid confusion for applicants. The currently approved forms are available online at http://www.fws.gov/forms/. Not all refuges will use each form and some refuges may collect the identical information in a nonform format.

    We use the following application forms when we assign areas, dates, and/or types of hunts via a drawing because of limited resources, high demand, or when a permit is needed to hunt. We issue application forms for specific periods, usually seasonally or annually.

    FWS Form 3-2354 (Quota Deer Hunt Application).

    FWS Form 3-2355 (Waterfowl Lottery Application).

    FWS Form 3-2356 (Big/Upland Game Hunt Application).

    FWS Form 3-2357 (Migratory Bird Hunt Application).

    FWS Form 3-2358 (Fishing/Shrimping/Crabbing Application).

    We collect information on:

    Applicant (name, address, phone number) so that we can notify applicants of their selection.

    User preferences (dates, areas, method) so that we can distribute users equitably.

    Whether or not the applicant is applying for a special opportunity for disabled or youth hunters.

    Age of youth hunter(s) so that we can establish eligibility.

    We ask users to report on their success after their experience so that we can evaluate hunting/fishing quality and resource impacts. We use the following activity reports, which we distribute during appropriate seasons, as determined by State or Federal regulations.

    FWS Form 3-2359 (Big Game Harvest Report).

    FWS Form 3-2360 (Fishing Report).

    FWS Form 3-2361 (Migratory Bird Hunt Report).

    FWS Form 3-2362 (Upland/Small Game/Furbearer Report).

    We collect information on:

    Names of users so we can differentiate between responses.

    City and State of residence so that we can better understand if users are local or traveling.

    Dates, time, and number in party so we can identify use trends and allocate staff and resources.

    Details of success by species so that we can evaluate quality of experience and resource impacts.

  2. Data

    OMB Control Number: 1018-0140.

    Title: Hunting and Fishing Application Forms and Activity Reports for National Wildlife Refuges, 50 CFR parts 25, 26, 27, 30, 31, and 32.

    Service Form Number(s): FWS Forms 3-2354, 3-2355, 3-2356, 3-2357, 3-2358, 3-2359, 3-2360, 3-2361, 3-2362.

    Type of Request: Extension of a currently approved collection.

    Description of Respondents: Individuals and households.

    Respondent's Obligation: Required to obtain or retain a benefit.

    Frequency of Collection: On occasion (for applications, usually once per year at the beginning of the hunting season; for activity reports, once at the conclusion of the hunting/fishing experience).

    Nonhour Cost Burden: We estimate the annual nonhour cost burden to be $60,000 for hunting application fees at some refuges.

    Completion

    Number of

    Number of

    time per

    Total annual

    Activity

    respondents

    responses

    response ( burden hours utes)

    FWS Form 3-2354.................................

    180,000

    180,000

    30

    90,000

    FWS Form 3-2355.................................

    93,000

    93,000

    30

    46,500

    FWS Form 3-2356.................................

    2,600

    2,600

    30

    1,300

    FWS Form 3-2357.................................

    5,200

    5,200

    30

    2,600

    FWS Form 3-2358.................................

    2,600

    2,600

    30

    1,300

    FWS Form 3-2359.................................

    88,000

    88,000

    15

    22,000

    FWS Form 3-2360.................................

    412,000

    412,000

    15

    103,000

    FWS Form 3-2361.................................

    31,000

    31,000

    15

    7,750

    FWS Form 3-2362.................................

    26,000

    26,000

    15

    6,500

    840,400

    840,400 ..............

    280,950

    Page 43339

  3. Comments

    We invite comments concerning this information collection on:

    Whether or not the collection of information is necessary, including whether or not the information will have practical utility;

    The accuracy of our estimate of the burden for this collection of information;

    Ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and

    Ways to imize the burden of the collection of information on respondents.

    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 IC. Before including your address, phone number, e-mail 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.

    Dated: July 14, 2011.

    Tina A. Campbell,

    Chief, Division of Policy and Directives Management, U.S. Fish and

    Wildlife Service.

    FR Doc. 2011-18252 Filed 7-19-11; 8:45 am

    BILLING CODE 4310-55-P

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