NWRS Partner Survey

PAPERWORK REDUCTION ACT BURDEN STATEMENT

In accordance with the Privacy Act (5 U.S.C. 552a) and the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501),
please note the following information. This information collection is authorized by the National Wildlife
Refuge Improvement Act of 1997. The Fish and Wildlife Service will use this information to make
management and policy decisions. Your response is voluntary. We will aggregate the information and
use only for statistical purposes. We do not maintain personal identifying information. OMB has
assigned OMB Control No. 1018-XXXX, which expires XX/XX/XXXX. Response is not required unless
a currently valid OMB control number is displayed. We estimate that it will take 20 minutes to complete
this survey. You may direct comments regarding the burden estimate or any other aspect of the form to
the Service Information Collection Clearance Officer, Fish and Wildlife Service, Mail Stop 222,
Arlington Square, U.S. Department of the Interior, 1849 C Street, NW., Washington D.C. 20240.

NWRS Partner Survey
Introduction and Organizational Information
This survey is being conducted as part of an evaluation of the effectiveness of the National Wildlife Refuge System
(NWRS). The evaluation is being conducted by Management Systems International under contract to the NWRS.
All responses will be anonymous as the survey does not ask for the respondent's name or information that could
identify an individual/organization. The answers you provide in this survey will be used, in combination with other
information, to assess the effectiveness of various components of the NWRS. This information will also serve as a
basis for developing recommendations to strengthen the Refuge System's performance.
This survey has been designed to be completed by representatives of Friends Groups, community-based
organizations, and other organizations that support and partner with the Refuge System.
The survey will collect information on two general topic areas:
1) The quality of your organization’s partnership with the NWRS, and
2) Your view as to the NWRS’ effectiveness in achieving its objectives.

This survey should take approximately 20 minutes to complete.

If you have any questions before you begin, please contact Dennis Marotta at [email protected]. Thank you
very much.

* 1. Please indicate the selection that best describes your organization below. (Note questions that contain an asterisk (*) require an answer to be provided before you
can proceed to the next question.)
j
k
l
m
n

Friends Group

j
k
l
m
n

National NGO - Headquarters or Regional Office

j
k
l
m
n

National NGO - Local Branch Office

j
k
l
m
n

Community-Based Organization (Non-Friends Group)

j
k
l
m
n

Other

* 2. Indicate in which of the Fish and Wildlife Service regions your office operates
(check all that apply)?
c
d
e
f
g

Region 1 - Pacific (GU, HI, ID, OR, WA)

c
d
e
f
g

Region 2 - Southwest (AZ, NM, OK, TX)

c
d
e
f
g

Region 3 - Midwest (IA, IL, IN, MI, MN, MO, OH, WI)

c
d
e
f
g

Region 4 - Southeast (AL, AR, FL, GA, KY, LA, MS, NC, PR, SC, TN, VI)

c
d
e
f
g

Region 5 - Northeast (CT, DE, MA, MD, ME, NJ, NH, NY, PA, RI, VA, VT, WV)

c
d
e
f
g

Region 6 - Mountain-Prairie (CO, KS, MT, NE, ND,SD, UT, WY)

c
d
e
f
g

Region 7 - Alaska

c
d
e
f
g

Region 8 - California & Nevada

c
d
e
f
g

Region 9 - Washington, DC

Page 1

NWRS Partner Survey

Quality of Partnership
We are interested in understanding more about the nature and quality of your organization's partnership with
the NWRS. A number of the questions in this section include a space for you to include a narrative
explanation of your immediately preceding close-ended responses. Please provide explanatory details as you
find appropriate.

3. Please review the following list of specific areas of partnership. For those
areas in which you have an active partnership with the Refuge System, provide
a rating of the quality of the partnership. If you do not actively partner in a
given area then you may select "N/A - We do not partner in this area."
N/A - We do
5 - Excellent not partner
in this area

1 - Poor

2 - Fair

3 - Good

4 - Very
Good

Hunting

j
k
l
m
n

j
k
l
m
n

j
k
l
m
n

j
k
l
m
n

j
k
l
m
n

j
k
l
m
n

Fishing

j
k
l
m
n

j
k
l
m
n

j
k
l
m
n

j
k
l
m
n

j
k
l
m
n

j
k
l
m
n

Environmental Education and Interpretation

j
k
l
m
n

j
k
l
m
n

j
k
l
m
n

j
k
l
m
n

j
k
l
m
n

j
k
l
m
n

Habitat Restoration (incl. invasive species
management)

j
k
l
m
n

j
k
l
m
n

j
k
l
m
n

j
k
l
m
n

j
k
l
m
n

j
k
l
m
n

Wildlife Inventory and Monitoring

j
k
l
m
n

j
k
l
m
n

j
k
l
m
n

j
k
l
m
n

j
k
l
m
n

j
k
l
m
n

Fire Management

j
k
l
m
n

j
k
l
m
n

j
k
l
m
n

j
k
l
m
n

j
k
l
m
n

j
k
l
m
n

Land Acquisition

j
k
l
m
n

j
k
l
m
n

j
k
l
m
n

j
k
l
m
n

j
k
l
m
n

j
k
l
m
n

You may use this space to comment on aspects of particular program partnerships.

4. Please summarize the overall quality of the working relationship between
your organization and the National Wildlife Refuge System.
1 - Poor

2 - Fair

3 - Good

4 - Very
Good

5 - Excellent

N/A

Regional/Washington Office

j
k
l
m
n

j
k
l
m
n

j
k
l
m
n

j
k
l
m
n

j
k
l
m
n

j
k
l
m
n

Individual Refuges

j
k
l
m
n

j
k
l
m
n

j
k
l
m
n

j
k
l
m
n

j
k
l
m
n

j
k
l
m
n

You may use this space to provide a brief explanation for your response.

5. You may use this space to provide general comments on your partnership
with the Refuge System, including the best/most productive aspects of the
relationship or the most challenging.

NWRS Partner Survey

NWRS Program Effectiveness
The NWRS has defined a set of long-term goals that cover its full range of program and management
activities. In this section of the survey you will be asked to provide your viewpoint on the effectiveness of
the NWRS in achieving these goals. Similar to the preceding section of the survey, please provide
explanatory narratives if and when you feel it is helpful to do so.
Each of your responses should be based on your knowledge of NWRS’ work in a particular program area. If
you do not have a familiarity of the Refuge System’s work in a particular area you should not provide a rating
as to their effectiveness for that area.

6. Rate the effectiveness of the Refuge System in achieving the following goals:
1Ineffective

2-Somewhat 3-Moderately 4-Very
Effective
Ineffective
Effective

5-Extremely
Effective

No Opinion/
N/A

Conserve, manage and where appropriate,
restore fish, wildlife, and plant resources and
their habitats to fulfill refuge purposes, trust
resource responsibilities, and biological
diversity/integrity.

j
k
l
m
n

j
k
l
m
n

j
k
l
m
n

j
k
l
m
n

j
k
l
m
n

j
k
l
m
n

Provide quality wildlife-dependent recreation
and education opportunities – opportunities for
compatible wildlife-dependent recreation include
wildlife observation, hunting, fishing, nature
photography, interpretation and environmental
education.

j
k
l
m
n

j
k
l
m
n

j
k
l
m
n

j
k
l
m
n

j
k
l
m
n

j
k
l
m
n

You may use this space to provide a brief explanation for your response.

7. For each program area listed below indicate which response best captures
your judgment regarding the Refuge System’s effectiveness. Answer only for
those areas in which you have substantial knowledge of the Refuge System’s
program activities.
1Ineffective

2-Somewhat 3-Moderately 4-Very
Ineffective
Effective
Effective

5-Extremely No Opinion/
Effective
N/A

Hunting

j
k
l
m
n

j
k
l
m
n

j
k
l
m
n

j
k
l
m
n

j
k
l
m
n

j
k
l
m
n

Fishing

j
k
l
m
n

j
k
l
m
n

j
k
l
m
n

j
k
l
m
n

j
k
l
m
n

j
k
l
m
n

Environmental Education and Interpretation

j
k
l
m
n

j
k
l
m
n

j
k
l
m
n

j
k
l
m
n

j
k
l
m
n

j
k
l
m
n

Habitat Management and Restoration

j
k
l
m
n

j
k
l
m
n

j
k
l
m
n

j
k
l
m
n

j
k
l
m
n

j
k
l
m
n

NWRS Partner Survey
Wildlife Inventory and Monitoring

j
k
l
m
n

j
k
l
m
n

j
k
l
m
n

j
k
l
m
n

j
k
l
m
n

j
k
l
m
n

Fire Management

j
k
l
m
n

j
k
l
m
n

j
k
l
m
n

j
k
l
m
n

j
k
l
m
n

j
k
l
m
n

Land Acquisition

j
k
l
m
n

j
k
l
m
n

j
k
l
m
n

j
k
l
m
n

j
k
l
m
n

j
k
l
m
n

Comprehensive Conservation Planning

j
k
l
m
n

j
k
l
m
n

j
k
l
m
n

j
k
l
m
n

j
k
l
m
n

j
k
l
m
n

Wilderness Management

j
k
l
m
n

j
k
l
m
n

j
k
l
m
n

j
k
l
m
n

j
k
l
m
n

j
k
l
m
n

Law Enforcement

j
k
l
m
n

j
k
l
m
n

j
k
l
m
n

j
k
l
m
n

j
k
l
m
n

j
k
l
m
n

You may use this space to provide a brief explanation for your response.

Recommendations
Please provide up to two suggestions as to how the National Wildlife Refuge System could improve its
partnership with your organization and/or improve its overall effectiveness.

8. You may use this space to provide your first suggestion.

9. You may use this space to provide your second suggestion.

Conclusion
Thank you for providing information regarding your organization's partnership with the National Wildlife Refuge
System and your views on the Refuge System's performance. We appreciate you taking the time to share
your experiences with us.