83 FR 18084 - Agency Information Collection Activities; Efficacy of Oak Savanna Restoration History Information Request

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
U.S. Geological Survey

Federal Register Volume 83, Issue 80 (April 25, 2018)

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, we, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) are proposing a new information collection.

[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 80 (Wednesday, April 25, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 18084-18085]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2018-08678]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

U.S. Geological Survey

[GR18ND00GQ44100; OMB Control Number 1028-NEW]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Efficacy of Oak Savanna 
Restoration History Information Request

AGENCY: U.S. Geological Survey, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of Information Collection; request for comment.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, we, 
the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) are proposing a new information 
collection.

DATES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments on or before 
June 25, 2018.

ADDRESSES: Send your comments on the information collection request 
(ICR) by mail to the U.S. Geological Survey, Information Collections 
Clearance Officer, 12201 Sunrise Valley Drive MS 159, Reston, VA 20192; 
or by email to [email protected]. Please reference OMB 
Control Number 1028-NEW in the subject line of your comments.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To request additional information 
about this ICR, contact Noel B. Pavlovic by email at 
[email protected], or by telephone at 219-926-8336 X428.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction 
Act of 1995, we provide the general public and other Federal agencies 
with an opportunity to comment on proposed, revised, and continuing 
collections of information. This helps us assess the impact of our 
information collection requirements and minimize the public's reporting 
burden. It also helps the public understand our information collection 
requirements and provide the requested data in the desired format.
    We are soliciting comments on the proposed ICR that is described 
below. We are especially interested in public comment addressing the 
following issues: (1) Is the collection necessary to the proper 
functions of the research being conducted by the USGS; (2) will this 
information be processed and used in a timely manner; (3) is the 
estimate of burden accurate; (4) how might the information gathered 
enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the research being 
conducted; and (5) how might the researchers minimize the burden of 
this collection on the respondents, including through the use of 
information technology.
    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 ICR. Before including your address, phone 
number, email 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 may 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.

[[Page 18085]]

    Abstract: We will ask land managers, in the areas where we have 
sampled the oak savanna vegetation, a standardized set of questions to 
assess qualitative and quantitative history of land management actions 
at the site. The historic information garnered from the excel 
spreadsheet (provided to the managers) and interviews, if necessary, 
with Federal, State, and private land managers (e.g. The Nature 
Conservancy and local land trusts) will be used in the statistical 
analysis of patterns and state of oak savanna vegetation in response to 
fundamental and management actions that have occurred prior to the 
sampling. For example at any oak savanna site, we may sample locations 
where there has been no management, where burning has occurred, and/or 
where burning and cutting has occurred. In this example, information 
will be sought for each case, such as last known burn in the first 
case, time since last burn, and other previous burn dates for the 
second case, and dates of burns and cutting and cutting type in the 
third case. This information will allow us to understand how the lack 
or presence of management has influenced the quality of oak savanna 
recovery. Fundamental factors include things like time since last burn, 
fire frequency and period of fire suppression. Management actions 
include history of on the ground management such as time and date of 
tree cutting, has grazing occurred and when it was terminated if not 
actively being conducted, and dates and number of prescribed burns. 
These manager responses will be converted to variables that can be 
statistically analyzed, such as time since last burn in years, number 
of fires over a specific time period and presence or absence of cutting 
or thinning. These qualitative and quantitative variables will be 
incorporated into the statistical analysis of the quality of the 
vegetation, i.e. species richness and diversity and composition 
variation. The data will include time since last fire, fire frequency, 
fire return interval and others if available or can be calculated from 
the information gathered. The data collected will be critical for 
interpreting the results of the ordination and structural equation 
modeling techniques that will be employed.
    Title of Collection: Efficacy of Oak Savanna Management History 
Information Request.
    OMB Control Number: 1028-NEW.
    Form Number: None.
    Type of Review: New.
    Respondents/Affected Public: Federal, State, local government land 
managers and other private land management entities in southern lower 
Michigan, northwest Ohio, northern Indiana, northeast Illinois, and 
southeastern Wisconsin.
    Total Estimated Number of Annual Respondents: 30.
    Total Estimated Number of Annual Responses: 30.
    Estimated Completion Time per Response: 2 hours.
    Total Estimated Number of Annual Burden Hours: 60 hours.
    Respondent's Obligation: Voluntary.
    Frequency of Collection: The respondents will provide information 
one time.
    Total Estimated Annual Non-hour Burden Cost: $0.
    An agency 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. The authorities for this action are 
the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501, et seq.).

Russell Strach,
Director, Great Lakes Science Center.
[FR Doc. 2018-08678 Filed 4-24-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4338-11-P