Information Collection: Generic Information Collection Clearance for STEW-MAP, the Stewardship Mapping and Assessment Project, 52298-52299 [2014-20864]
Download as PDF
<![CDATA[
mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
52298
Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 170 / Wednesday, September 3, 2014 / Notices
and no member shall serve more than
six consecutive years on the Committee.
AMS oversees the Committee to ensure
that it is administered according to the
FACA.
AMS Deputy Administrator for the
Fruit and Vegetable Program, Charles
Parrott, serves as the Committee’s
Executive Secretary. Representatives
from USDA mission areas and other
government agencies affecting the fruit
and vegetable industry are called upon
to participate in the Committee’s
meetings as determined by the
Committee. AMS is giving notice of the
Committee meeting to the public so that
they may attend and present their
recommendations. The meeting is open
to the public. Reference to dates and
addresses section for the time and place
of the meeting.
Agenda items will include, but are not
limited to, welcome and introductions,
administrative matters, selection of
Committee Chairman and ViceChairman, and discussions by the
Committee on the full spectrum of
issues facing the fruit and vegetable
industry. The Committee will determine
the areas that they would like to address
concerning the Department’s programs.
Public Comments: Those parties that
would like to speak at the meeting
should register on or before September
19, 2014. To register as a speaker, please
email your name and all of the names
of people planning to give oral
comments, the organizations or interests
represented, business addresses, email
addresses, and telephone numbers to
Ms. Marlene Betts, Acting Designated
Federal Officer (DFO) at:
Marlene.betts@ams.usda.gov or
telephone at (202) 720–3334. Speakers
who have registered in advance will be
given priority. Written public comments
may be submitted electronically by
September 19, 2014, for the Committee’s
consideration to www.regulations.gov or
mail to: 1400 Independence Avenue
SW., Room 2077–South, STOP 0235,
Washington, DC 20250–0235. The
meeting will be recorded, and
information about obtaining a transcript
will be provided at the meeting.
Meeting Accommodations: The
meeting hotel is ADA compliant, and
the USDA provides reasonable
accommodations to individuals with
disabilities where appropriate. If you
need a reasonable accommodation to
participate in this public meeting,
please notify Marlene Betts at
marlene.betts@ams.usda.gov or (202)
720–3334. Determinations for
reasonable accommodations will be
made on a case-by-case basis.
VerDate Mar<15>2010
17:40 Sep 02, 2014
Jkt 232001
Dated: August 27, 2014.
Rex A. Barnes,
Associate Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2014–20833 Filed 9–2–14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410–02–P
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Forest Service
Information Collection: Generic
Information Collection Clearance for
STEW–MAP, the Stewardship Mapping
and Assessment Project
Forest Service, USDA.
Notice; request for comment.
AGENCY:
ACTION:
In accordance with the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the
Forest Service is seeking comments
from all interested individuals and
organizations on the new information
collection Generic Information
Collection Clearance for STEW–MAP,
the Stewardship Mapping and
Assessment Project.
DATES: Comments must be received in
writing on or before November 3, 2014
to be assured of consideration.
Comments received after that date will
be considered to the extent practicable.
ADDRESSES: Comments concerning this
notice should be addressed to Lynne
Westphal, USDA Forest Service, 1033
University Place, Suite 360, Evanston,
IL 60201.
Comments also may be submitted via
facsimile to 847–866–9506 or by email
to lwestphal@fs.fed.us. Please put
‘‘Comments re: STEW–MAP’’ in the
subject line.
Comments submitted in response to
this notice may be made available to the
public through relevant Web sites and
upon request. For this reason, please do
not include in your comments
information of a confidential nature,
such as sensitive personal information
or proprietary information. If you send
an email comment, your email address
will be automatically captured and
included as part of the comment that is
placed in the public docket and made
available on the Internet. Please note
that responses to this public comment
request containing any routine notice
about the confidentiality of the
communication will be treated as public
comments that may be made available to
the public notwithstanding the
inclusion of the routine notice.
The public may inspect the draft
supporting statement and/or comments
received at USDA Forest Service, 1033
University Place, Suite 360, Evanston,
IL during normal business hours.
Visitors are encouraged to call ahead to
SUMMARY:
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
847–866–9311 to facilitate entry to the
building. The public may request an
electronic copy of the draft supporting
statement and/or any comments
received be sent via return email.
Requests should be emailed to
lwestphal@fs.fed.us.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Lynne Westphal at 847–866–9311
extension 11. Individuals who use
telecommunication devices for the deaf
(TDD) may call the Federal Information
Relay Service (FIRS) at 1–800–877–8339
twenty-four hours a day, every day of
the year, including holidays.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Title: Generic Information Collection
Clearance for STEW–MAP, the
Stewardship Mapping and Assessment
Project.
OMB Number: 0596—NEW.
Type of Request: New.
Abstract: Local environmental
stewardship groups are essential for
ensuring the vibrancy of natural areas in
urban environments. Urban natural
areas provide a range of benefits and
services including stormwater
management, air pollution removal,
urban heat island mitigation, carbon
storage, wildlife habitat, recreation
opportunities, stress reduction, aesthetic
beauty, noise reduction, increased
property values, and reduced energy
use. The work of civic environmental
stewards leverages the efforts of local
government officials in maintaining
these resources, especially in lean
budget times. Civic stewardship
organizations, including nonprofits,
faith-based groups, formal and informal
community groups, and coalitions, are
often involved in, for example, planting
trees, organizing community gardens,
offering environment-themed classes,
engaging with local officials on behalf of
the environment, monitoring plants or
animals, and cleaning up nearby parks
or natural areas. People who do this
work are stewards of their local
environments, even if they do not
normally use the word ‘‘steward’’ or
think of what they do as ‘‘stewardship.’’
In urban areas, the roles of civic
environmental stewards and their levels
of engagement and commitment are
often not understood by land managers
and other decision makers. This means
that the valuable services they provide
are not appreciated and built on to full
advantage. In addition, stewards
themselves may not be aware of others
doing similar work in their area so there
may be lost opportunities for
collaboration between groups.
The purpose of this research is to
gather information on civic stewardship
groups and their efforts such as where
E:\FR\FM\03SEN1.SGM
03SEN1
mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 170 / Wednesday, September 3, 2014 / Notices
they work, the types of projects they
focus on, how they are organize. This
information will be summarize and
made publicly available online for use
by policy makers, land managers,
environmental professionals, the general
public, stewards themselves, and other
urban resource management
stakeholders.
There are three phases to a STEW–
MAP project:
• Phase One (Census) is a census of
stewardship groups in the target city or
region, essentially putting together a
master list of known stewardship groups
and their contact information.
• Phase Two (Survey) is a survey
which is distributed to all of the
organizations identified in Phase One to
collect information about what they
work on, how their group is structured,
where they work, and what other groups
they collaborate with.
• Phase Three (Follow-Up Interviews)
is follow-up interviews with key
longstanding organizations identified
during Phase Two to collect more
detailed information about their
organizational histories.
A primary goal of STEW–MAP is to
visualize stewardship activities across
the urban landscape. The geographic
information provided by stewardship
groups on the survey (Phase Two) will
allow the researchers to do a spatial
analysis of where stewardship groups
are working, identify ‘‘gaps’’ where little
to no stewardship is being done, and
provide locally relevant geographic
information like what kinds of
stewardship groups are working in
particular places. This geographic
information will be displayed on maps
to show stewards, local land managers,
policy makers, and other interested
stakeholders how stewardship work is
distributed across the region with the
goal of encouraging collaboration,
building innovative partnerships,
increasing organizational capacities, and
generally making stewardship efforts
more effective.
All of the information from STEW–
MAP will help planners, natural
resource decision makers, land
managers, and the general public work
across property jurisdictions,
management regimes and political
boundaries to conserve, protect, and
manage urban natural resources
effectively. It will also be used to
enhance local resource management
efforts by helping public officials, land
managers, and civic stewards connect to
local stewardship groups.
STEW–MAP is being led by
researchers from the Forest Service in
partnership with researchers from
universities and nongovernment
VerDate Mar<15>2010
17:40 Sep 02, 2014
Jkt 232001
organizations. The exact makeup of the
research team will vary from location to
location where STEW–MAP is
conducted. The Forest Service, Research
and Development branch is authorized
to conduct basic scientific research to
improve the health of forests and
rangelands involving State, Federal,
Tribal agencies, and private landowners
across multiple jurisdictions including
in urban areas. The study is aligned
with the U.S. Department of Agriculture
policy of an ‘‘all-lands approach’’ to
resource management, which ‘‘requires
land managers to work across
jurisdictions and land-use types,
viewing forests landscapes as an
integrated whole, both ecologically and
socially’’ (National Report on
Sustainable Forests, 2010). This alllands approach applies to urban
ecosystems as well. Our project goals
are consistent with the Forest Service,
Urban and Community Forestry (UCF)
program, which focus on urban forest
ecosystems and the role of stewardship
and trail connections to parks and
public lands that promote health and
sustainability for urban residents. This
study seeks to identify opportunities for
stewardship organizations to better
collaborate and, thus, be more effective
in the stewardship of urban natural
areas.
Due to local geographical and/or
cultural differences, and to meet the
needs of any particular collaborative
effort, we anticipate that there may be
changes to the survey and interview
questions and perhaps in methodology
to accommodate the unique
requirements of individual
communities; therefore, we are
submitting this request for a Generic
Information Collection Clearance for the
information collection activities
associated with the STEW–MAP
program in order to afford us the
flexibility of tailoring the information
collection activities and instruments to
each location, and to apply lessons
learned from previous STEW–MAP
efforts and locations to future efforts
and locations.
Affected Public: Representatives from
civic environmental stewardship
groups, and from State, local, or Tribal
Governments.
Estimate of Burden per Response: 15
to 60 minutes.
Estimated Annual Number of
Respondents:
Phase One (Census): 600
Phase Two (Survey): 15,000
Phase Three (Follow-up Interviews): 300
Estimated Annual Number of
Responses per Respondent: 1.
Estimated Total Annual Burden on
Respondents: 7,925 hours.
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
52299
Comment is Invited: Comment is
invited on: (1) Whether this collection
of information is necessary for the stated
purposes and the proper performance of
the functions of the Agency, including
whether the information will have
practical or scientific utility; (2) the
accuracy of the Agency’s estimate of the
burden of the 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) 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.
All comments received in response to
this notice, including names and
addresses when provided, will be a
matter of public record. Comments will
be summarized and included in the
submission request toward Office of
Management and Budget approval.
Dated: August 26, 2014.
Jimmy L. Reaves,
Deputy Chief, Research & Development.
[FR Doc. 2014–20864 Filed 9–2–14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3411–15–P
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Forest Service
Hood/Willamette Resource Advisory
Committee Meeting
Forest Service, USDA.
Notice of meeting.
AGENCY:
ACTION:
The Hood/Willamette
Resource Advisory Committee (RAC)
will meet in Sandy, Oregon. The
Committee is authorized under the
Secure Rural Schools and Community
Self-Determination Act (the Act) (Pub.
L. 110–343) and operates in compliance
with the Federal Advisory Committee
Act of 1972 (5 U.S.C. App 2). The
purpose of the Committee is to improve
collaborative relationships and to
provide advice and recommendations to
the Forest Service concerning projects
and funding consistent with the Title II
of the Act. The meeting is open to the
public. Additional information
concerning the Committee, can be found
by visiting the Committee’s Web site at:
https://fsplaces.fs.fed.us/fsfiles/unit/wo/
secure_rural_schools.nsf.
DATES: The meeting will be held
September 30, 2014 at 10:00 a.m.
All RAC meetings are subject to
cancellation. For status of meeting prior
to attendance, please contact the person
SUMMARY:
E:\FR\FM\03SEN1.SGM
03SEN1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 170 (Wednesday, September 3, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52298-52299]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-20864]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Forest Service
Information Collection: Generic Information Collection Clearance
for STEW-MAP, the Stewardship Mapping and Assessment Project
AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice; request for comment.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the
Forest Service is seeking comments from all interested individuals and
organizations on the new information collection Generic Information
Collection Clearance for STEW-MAP, the Stewardship Mapping and
Assessment Project.
DATES: Comments must be received in writing on or before November 3,
2014 to be assured of consideration. Comments received after that date
will be considered to the extent practicable.
ADDRESSES: Comments concerning this notice should be addressed to Lynne
Westphal, USDA Forest Service, 1033 University Place, Suite 360,
Evanston, IL 60201.
Comments also may be submitted via facsimile to 847-866-9506 or by
email to lwestphal@fs.fed.us. Please put ``Comments re: STEW-MAP'' in
the subject line.
Comments submitted in response to this notice may be made available
to the public through relevant Web sites and upon request. For this
reason, please do not include in your comments information of a
confidential nature, such as sensitive personal information or
proprietary information. If you send an email comment, your email
address will be automatically captured and included as part of the
comment that is placed in the public docket and made available on the
Internet. Please note that responses to this public comment request
containing any routine notice about the confidentiality of the
communication will be treated as public comments that may be made
available to the public notwithstanding the inclusion of the routine
notice.
The public may inspect the draft supporting statement and/or
comments received at USDA Forest Service, 1033 University Place, Suite
360, Evanston, IL during normal business hours. Visitors are encouraged
to call ahead to 847-866-9311 to facilitate entry to the building. The
public may request an electronic copy of the draft supporting statement
and/or any comments received be sent via return email. Requests should
be emailed to lwestphal@fs.fed.us.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Lynne Westphal at 847-866-9311
extension 11. Individuals who use telecommunication devices for the
deaf (TDD) may call the Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1-
800-877-8339 twenty-four hours a day, every day of the year, including
holidays.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Title: Generic Information Collection Clearance for STEW-MAP, the
Stewardship Mapping and Assessment Project.
OMB Number: 0596--NEW.
Type of Request: New.
Abstract: Local environmental stewardship groups are essential for
ensuring the vibrancy of natural areas in urban environments. Urban
natural areas provide a range of benefits and services including
stormwater management, air pollution removal, urban heat island
mitigation, carbon storage, wildlife habitat, recreation opportunities,
stress reduction, aesthetic beauty, noise reduction, increased property
values, and reduced energy use. The work of civic environmental
stewards leverages the efforts of local government officials in
maintaining these resources, especially in lean budget times. Civic
stewardship organizations, including nonprofits, faith-based groups,
formal and informal community groups, and coalitions, are often
involved in, for example, planting trees, organizing community gardens,
offering environment-themed classes, engaging with local officials on
behalf of the environment, monitoring plants or animals, and cleaning
up nearby parks or natural areas. People who do this work are stewards
of their local environments, even if they do not normally use the word
``steward'' or think of what they do as ``stewardship.''
In urban areas, the roles of civic environmental stewards and their
levels of engagement and commitment are often not understood by land
managers and other decision makers. This means that the valuable
services they provide are not appreciated and built on to full
advantage. In addition, stewards themselves may not be aware of others
doing similar work in their area so there may be lost opportunities for
collaboration between groups.
The purpose of this research is to gather information on civic
stewardship groups and their efforts such as where
[[Page 52299]]
they work, the types of projects they focus on, how they are organize.
This information will be summarize and made publicly available online
for use by policy makers, land managers, environmental professionals,
the general public, stewards themselves, and other urban resource
management stakeholders.
There are three phases to a STEW-MAP project:
Phase One (Census) is a census of stewardship groups in
the target city or region, essentially putting together a master list
of known stewardship groups and their contact information.
Phase Two (Survey) is a survey which is distributed to all
of the organizations identified in Phase One to collect information
about what they work on, how their group is structured, where they
work, and what other groups they collaborate with.
Phase Three (Follow-Up Interviews) is follow-up interviews
with key longstanding organizations identified during Phase Two to
collect more detailed information about their organizational histories.
A primary goal of STEW-MAP is to visualize stewardship activities
across the urban landscape. The geographic information provided by
stewardship groups on the survey (Phase Two) will allow the researchers
to do a spatial analysis of where stewardship groups are working,
identify ``gaps'' where little to no stewardship is being done, and
provide locally relevant geographic information like what kinds of
stewardship groups are working in particular places. This geographic
information will be displayed on maps to show stewards, local land
managers, policy makers, and other interested stakeholders how
stewardship work is distributed across the region with the goal of
encouraging collaboration, building innovative partnerships, increasing
organizational capacities, and generally making stewardship efforts
more effective.
All of the information from STEW-MAP will help planners, natural
resource decision makers, land managers, and the general public work
across property jurisdictions, management regimes and political
boundaries to conserve, protect, and manage urban natural resources
effectively. It will also be used to enhance local resource management
efforts by helping public officials, land managers, and civic stewards
connect to local stewardship groups.
STEW-MAP is being led by researchers from the Forest Service in
partnership with researchers from universities and nongovernment
organizations. The exact makeup of the research team will vary from
location to location where STEW-MAP is conducted. The Forest Service,
Research and Development branch is authorized to conduct basic
scientific research to improve the health of forests and rangelands
involving State, Federal, Tribal agencies, and private landowners
across multiple jurisdictions including in urban areas. The study is
aligned with the U.S. Department of Agriculture policy of an ``all-
lands approach'' to resource management, which ``requires land managers
to work across jurisdictions and land-use types, viewing forests
landscapes as an integrated whole, both ecologically and socially''
(National Report on Sustainable Forests, 2010). This all-lands approach
applies to urban ecosystems as well. Our project goals are consistent
with the Forest Service, Urban and Community Forestry (UCF) program,
which focus on urban forest ecosystems and the role of stewardship and
trail connections to parks and public lands that promote health and
sustainability for urban residents. This study seeks to identify
opportunities for stewardship organizations to better collaborate and,
thus, be more effective in the stewardship of urban natural areas.
Due to local geographical and/or cultural differences, and to meet
the needs of any particular collaborative effort, we anticipate that
there may be changes to the survey and interview questions and perhaps
in methodology to accommodate the unique requirements of individual
communities; therefore, we are submitting this request for a Generic
Information Collection Clearance for the information collection
activities associated with the STEW-MAP program in order to afford us
the flexibility of tailoring the information collection activities and
instruments to each location, and to apply lessons learned from
previous STEW-MAP efforts and locations to future efforts and
locations.
Affected Public: Representatives from civic environmental
stewardship groups, and from State, local, or Tribal Governments.
Estimate of Burden per Response: 15 to 60 minutes.
Estimated Annual Number of Respondents:
Phase One (Census): 600
Phase Two (Survey): 15,000
Phase Three (Follow-up Interviews): 300
Estimated Annual Number of Responses per Respondent: 1.
Estimated Total Annual Burden on Respondents: 7,925 hours.
Comment is Invited: Comment is invited on: (1) Whether this
collection of information is necessary for the stated purposes and the
proper performance of the functions of the Agency, including whether
the information will have practical or scientific utility; (2) the
accuracy of the Agency's estimate of the burden of the 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) 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.
All comments received in response to this notice, including names
and addresses when provided, will be a matter of public record.
Comments will be summarized and included in the submission request
toward Office of Management and Budget approval.
Dated: August 26, 2014.
Jimmy L. Reaves,
Deputy Chief, Research & Development.
[FR Doc. 2014-20864 Filed 9-2-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3411-15-P
