Justification/Certification for Mt. Shasta Visitor Survey





Justification for an Information Collection under the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service’s Federal Lands Transportation Generic Clearance (OMB Control No. 0596-0236)



April 2015



Justification for Submission under Federal Lands Transportation Generic Clearance (OMB Control Number 0596-0236)

U.S. Department of Agriculture-Forest Service Office of Regulatory and Management Services

Forest Service Tracking Number: (for internal use only) 2017 – 01 – FS

			Date Submitted to Forest Service/USDA:	01/25/2017
1.	IC Title:	Mount Shasta Visitor Recreation Survey to Inform Recreation Planning and Management on the Shasta-Trinity National Forest
2.	Bureau/Office:	USDA Forest Service



3.

Abstract: (not to exceed 150 words) The purpose of this study is to determine what activities are pursued, how visitors evaluate the quality of their trips, and recreationists’ opinions about management policies and facilities. A brief survey will be conducted on randomly selected days over a period of one year along the Everitt Memorial Highway on Mount Shasta. The self-administered questionnaire will be conducted as recreationists are leaving and will take 15 minutes to complete. The surveys will be analyzed by Forest Service employees and Oregon State University. The survey results will describe recreation patterns on Mt. Shasta, users’ motivation for recreating on Mt. Shasta, users’ satisfaction with their experience in the area, and users’ opinions on different management actions. The information gained from the survey will be used along with other information to guide recreation planning on the Shasta-Trinity National Forest in order to achieve a sustainable level of recreation on Mount Shasta.

4.

Bureau/Office Point of Contact Information

First Name:

Jennifer

Last Name:

Womack

Title:

Recreation Special Uses Administrator

Bureau/Office:

Shasta-Trinity National Forest

Street Address:

204 West Alma Street

City:

Mount Shasta

State:

CA

Zip code:

96067

Phone:

530-926-9616

Fax:

530-926-9675

Email:

[email protected]

5.

Principal Investigator (PI) Information [If different from #4]

First Name:

Troy

Last Name:

Hall

Title:

Department Head, Forest Ecosystems & Society

Bureau/Office:

Department of Forestry, Ecosystems & Society

Address:

321 Richardson Hall, Oregon State University

City:

Corvallis

State:

OR

Zip code:

97331

Phone:

541-737-1306

Fax:

Email:

[email protected]

6.

Lead agency IC Clearance Officer Reviewing the IC:

First Name

Nicholas

Last Name

DiProfio

Title

Program Analyst

Phone

202-205-1082

Email

[email protected]

7.

Description of Population/Potential respondents

Surveys will be conducted with recreational visitors (16 years of age and older) who visit the study areas (Everitt Memorial Highway) during the study Period.

8.

IC Dates

(mm/dd/yyyy)

to

(mm/dd/yyyy)

03/01/2017

02/28/2018

9.

Type of Information Collection Instrument (Check ALL that Apply)

_x_Intercept

__Telephone

__Mail

__Web-based

__Focus Groups

__Comment Cards

__Other

Explain:

10. Instrument Development:

(Who assisted in content development? Statistics? Was the instrument pretested? How were improvements integrated?)

The survey methods and instruments for this study were reviewed by Project Managers on the Shasta-Trinity National Forest and by University Faculty at Oregon State University. Further, the questions in this survey are similar to those used in previous studies at several other National Forest recreation areas and NPs that were reviewed and approved by the Office of Management and Budget as part of the Federal Land Management Agencies Compendium of Questions (OMB Control No. 0596-0236).

Moreover, pre-testing and consultation were conducted with 5 volunteer participants identified by the USFS with no specific background or training in survey research methods or analysis (i.e., representative of the general public, rather than survey experts). In particular, the individuals were asked to complete the questionnaire, and asked a series of debriefing questions after to elicit their feedback on the practical utility of the study, questionnaire/respondent burden, quality and clarity of the questionnaires and instructions, and ways to minimize respondent burden.

11. Which of the five areas from the Compendium of Questions will be addressed in your IC? (Check all that apply). .

X Topic Area #1: Respondent characteristics

• Topic Area #2: Traveler Information

X Topic Area #3: Trip behaviors

X Topic Area #4: Assessment of Visitor Experiences and Transportation-Related Facilities, Conditions,

and Services

• Topic Area #5: Economic Impact and Visitor Spending/Costs

In addition, for each question in your survey instrument (or discussion guide, comment card, etc), please indicate the Compendium Topic Area and the unique question identifier from the Compendium. If the question is not taken from the Compendium, indicate “NEW”. See the instructions for a sample table.

Survey Question Number	Compendium Question Identifier	Modified Y/N	Explanation
1	TDEST8	Y	Listed all the locations and requested visitor to circle locations they visited
2	TACT1	Y	Added more categories for recreation
3	TACT2	Y	Only used part B
4	TPURP7	Y	Turned question into a table to ask how important multiple recreation activities were on their trip
5	TDUR2	Y	Removed option B
6	EVAL32	Y	Changed shuttle service to Mt. Shasta
7	EVAL34	Y	Added second part which requested to know which locations they felt crowded at
8	EVAL27	Y	Added Locations
9	EVAL33	Y	Changed to a "yes/no" question
10	NEW	Y
11	EVAL1	Y	Changed from "travel experience" to "trip"
12	EVAL15	Y	Removed "importance" options and changed some of the categories
13	OPIN6	Y	Used part B and rephrased to connect with question 20 to pull out any "problems"
14	TRANSUSE33	Y	used only part 2 and 3 of question and changed from backcountry to various recreation activities
15	OPIN7	Y	added different options
16	OPIN8	Y	Changed "non-motorized facility improvements" to "change/modify any recreation opportunity on Mt. Shasta"
17	NEW	Y
18	GROUP3	N
19	GROUP4	Y	Changed “number of people” to “adults” and “children”
20	TPLAN1	Y	Clarified question more
21	TPURP1	Y	Added "Mount Shasta" as the location
22	VHIS10	Y	Changed "boated" to "visited" and added a second part for how many times
23	VHIS8	Y	Only used "season portion" added "what year was your first visit"
24	EVAL42	Y	Removed the positive and negative and inserted "Mount Shasta"
25	Ethnic4	Y	Added 3rd category, “prefer not to answer”
26	RACE1	N
27	LANG3	N
28	GEN1	N
29	EDU1	N
30	INC1	N
31	RES3	N

12. Methodology:

(Use as much space as needed; if necessary include additional explanation on separate page).

Respondent Universe

The universe (population) for this information collection is all visitors to Mount Shasta who travel on the Everitt Memorial Highway. Since the number of visitors each year depends on weather, the economy, and other factors, it is not possible to precisely specify the size of the population. However, a recent study estimated that approximately 82,500 vehicles used the Everitt Memorial Highway in one year. Approximately 76% of the use occurs on weekends (Friday through Sunday). Table 1 shows the average number of vehicles using the highway per day for weekends/weekdays in each season.

Table 1. Estimated Number of Vehicles per Day Traveling the Everitt Memorial Highway

	Winter (Dec-Feb)	Spring (Mar-May)	Summer (Jun-Aug)	Fall (Sept-Nov)
Weekends	235	401	595	252
Weekdays	76	129	191	81

Source data: National Visitor Use Monitoring Program

Sampling Plan/Procedure

We will recruit study participants through a vehicle intercept using an interval sample (as described below). One adult (at least 18 years of age) will be recruited from each stopped vehicle, using the “nearest birthday” method to randomly select the participant.

We will distribute surveys on a stratified random sample of dates. Several considerations affect the approach used for sampling. First, use density and visitor type vary considerably by season and between weekdays and weekends/holidays. Second, conditions such as weather and wildfire can cause unpredictable changes in use levels. Third, use levels can be quite high on summer weekends, and it is logistically impossible (and undesirable) to stop all vehicles on these days.

Therefore, we plan to use a 4 (season) x 2 (weekday vs. weekend/holiday) approach to stratify data collection sessions. Within each season, we will randomly select 12 weekdays and 6 weekend days (or holidays). (This distribution reflects the fact that approximately 30% of the days in a year are weekend days or holidays.) To address the concern about high use days and the potential for bottlenecks as visitors exit the highway, we plan to use an interval sample, whereby surveyors stop every 10th vehicle that passes their station. Table 2 displays the estimated number of surveys that will be obtained each day, which varies with season. The sample is designed to obtain at least 100 total surveys in each season, so that we can compare responses from different times of the year when different activities and use levels occur.

Table 2. Number of sample days per temporal stratum, estimated number of surveys to be obtained each day, and total number of expected surveys.	Dec, Jan, Feb (winter)	Mar, Apr, May (spring)	Jun, July, Aug (summer)	Sept, Oct, Nov (fall)	Total
Weekends/holidays
Sampling days	6	6	6	6
Cars stopped/day	24	40	60	25
Surveys collected per day (50% RR)	12	20	30	13
Total weekend surveys completed	72	120	180	78	450
Weekdays
Sampling days	12	12	12	12
Cars stopped/day	8	13	19	8
Surveys collected per day (50% RR)	4	6	10	4
Total weekday surveys completed	48	72	120	48	288
Total
Total surveys completed	104	166	260	109	738

Instrument Administration

Visitors at the study sites will be read the following script:

"Excuse me, sir/ma'am. We're conducting a study for the Shasta-Trinity National Forest to better understand visitor experiences during their visit. Your participation is voluntary and all responses are anonymous. Would you be willing to take 15 minutes to help?”

If YES: "Thank you. Who in your personal group (who is at least 18 years of age) has the next birthday? Would you be willing to complete this questionnaire?”

Visitors will then be given a paper questionnaire to complete along with a map. The respondents will then answer a series of questions on the survey.

If NO: “I understand. Will you be willing to answer 3 quick questions to assist our study efforts? If YES: Where did they recreate today? What recreation activity did you participate in today? What is your home zip code? I hope you enjoy your visit.” If NO: I hope you enjoy your visit.

Expected Response Rate and Confidence Levels

Our goal is to obtain at least 600 surveys. We estimate that we will obtain a 50% response rate, which means we will need to stop 1,200 vehicles. (A 50% response rate is realistic, as the Forest Service’s National Visitor Use Monitoring Program, which used this methodology, achieved a 50% response rate.)

The sampling approach and sample size will generate estimates of central tendency with 95% confidence that true population parameters are within at least ±5% of the sample estimate. This level of accuracy is conventional for published research of this type.

Strategies for dealing with potential non-response bias

Vehicles will be intercepted at a safe location with a long sight distance. This should ensure that visitors are not surprised and are prepared to be contacted. We will use large traffic signs (following the approach used by NVUM). Surveyors will be trained in professional visitor contact and will be attired in uniforms. Visitors will be informed that their participation is voluntary - See Instrument Administration above.

These methods have been shown to result in high response rates at other National Forest sites (e.g., the National Visitor Use Monitoring Program). To characterize non-respondents, surveyors will document the number of individuals in vehicles and will verbally ask three questions from the survey. These data will be compared between respondents and non-respondents to determine whether there are systematic differences.

If someone refuses we will ask if they would be willing to answer three questions. If they are willing, we will ask them where they recreated today, what recreation activity they participated in and what is their home zip code? While we would not weight data based on this non-response bias test, results would provide insight as to whether those who did not respond were systematically different than those who did respond.

Description of any pre-testing and peer review of the methods and/or instrument (recommended)

The survey methods and instruments for this study were reviewed by Project Managers at the Shasta-Trinity National Forest and Oregon State Faculty. The questions in this survey are similar to those used in previous studies at several other national forest recreation areas and national parks that were reviewed and approved by the Office of Management and Budget as part of the Federal Land Management Agencies Compendium of Questions (OMB Control No. 0596-0236).

Pre-testing and consultation were conducted with 6 volunteer participants identified by the USFS, and with no specific background or training in survey research methods or analysis (i.e., representative of the general public, rather than survey experts). In particular, the individuals were asked to complete the questionnaire, and asked a series of debriefing questions after to elicit their feedback on the practical utility of the study, questionnaire/respondent burden, quality and clarity of the questionnaires and instructions, and ways to minimize respondent burden. Participants were also asked to indicate if they had any difficulty or confusion with skip patterns, multi-item response scales, and/or instructions for recording responses (e.g., “Check one box” or “Check all that apply”).

The feedback from the pre-test participants was positive. Participants indicated that the layout of the questionnaires, and question wording were straightforward, which helps to minimize respondent burden. Participants reported no trouble with skip patterns, multi-item response scales, and instructions for recording responses.

The time it took each respondent to complete the questionnaire was recorded by the pre-test administrators: 9-14 minutes was the typical response time. This finding helps to validate the burden estimates reported in the submission, and suggests that participation in the study does not cause undue/excessive respondent burden. Finally, the completed questionnaires were inspected by the pre-test administrators, after the pre-test was concluded. Inspection of the completed questionnaire indicated that respondents followed skip patterns correctly, answered all of the relevant questions, and recorded their answers correctly.

Participants in the pre-test offered minor suggestions to improve the wording or format of specific questions in the survey instruments, and revisions to the questionnaires were made accordingly.

13.

Total Number of Initial Contacts and Expected Number of Respondents

Initial Contacts: 1470

Expected Respondents: 738

14.

Estimated Time to Complete Initial Contact and Time to Complete Instrument

Initial contact: 1 minute

Instrument completion: 15 minutes

15.

Total Burden Hours

Contacts

Respondents

-----------------

Total

Contacts: 1470

Respondents: 738

Total: ~15 minutes per respondent = 184.5 hours; 732 non-responses x 3 minute = 36.6 hours.

Total 221.1 hrs.

16. Reporting Plan: Presentations will be made to Forest Supervisor, Unit District Ranger, resource managers, Oregon State University department, and stakeholder groups to explain the findings and their implications. The results of this information collection activity will be presented in an internal agency report to Shasta-Trinity NF. The project results may be published in a peer-reviewed scientific publication discussing the methods, results, and conclusions, and recognizing the support given by the USFS.

17. Justification, Purpose, and Use:
IC Justification and Purpose	The Shasta-Trinity National Forest is proposing to conduct a visitor use survey on the Everitt Memorial Highway in order to determine what activities are pursued, how visitors evaluate the quality of their trips, and recreationists’ opinions about management policies and facilities. The Everitt Memorial Highway is a paved road to the highest drivable elevation on Mt. Shasta and receives about 60,000-80,000 cars annually. The data collected from this public survey will help the recreation managers on the Forest in recreation planning and management efforts. The Shasta-Trinity National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan (Forest Plan) has three Forest Goals that include striving to provide a variety of high quality outdoor recreation experiences and increase the emphasis of recreation on areas of national significance such as Mt. Shasta. Conducting this visitor survey of the recreation occurring along the Everitt Memorial Highway on Mt. Shasta will help the Forest see how it is achieving that goal and areas where it can improve. The Forest Plan also provides recreation standards and guidelines which include: Provide interpretive services to direct visitors to their recreation destinations, to facilitate understanding of resource management activities, and to acquaint them with unique or special features on the Forests and the function of forest ecosystems. Create additional opportunities for winter recreation, including alpine skiing, cross-country ski areas, snowmobile areas, and snow play areas. Facilitate use of National Forest lands adjacent to urban areas with pocket parks, group sites, and environmental education study areas. Develop or expand city-to-forest and other day use trail opportunities. Evaluate public demand for outfitter/guide services. Encourage commercial outfitting and guide permits where there is a demonstrated need that is compatible with general public use and resource conditions. The proposed visitor survey will help the Shasta-Trinity National Forest in determining the needs of the public in achieving these standards and guidelines. The Forest Plan has the following requirements for management of the Mt. Shasta Management Area: Study opportunities for winter sports including snowmobiling, Nordic and alpine skiing, and snow play. Designate appropriate roads as snowmobile and skiing routes. Monitor recreation use, minimize impacts, and restore vegetation in high use areas such as Panther Meadow. The Forest Plan has required that the Shasta-Trinity National Forest to conduct monitoring to determine if recreation management direction meets expectations of visitors. One of the monitoring techniques and data sources listed in the Forest Plan to achieve this reporting requirement includes customer surveys and should be measured every five years to ensure we are meeting our plan requirements. National Forest Management Act requires that the Forest Service: "(1) provide for multiple use and sustained yield of the products and services obtained therefrom in accordance with the Multiple-Use, Sustained-Yield Act of 1960, and in particular, include coordination of outdoor recreation, range, timber, watershed, wildlife and fish, and wilderness;” "(d) The Secretary shall provide for public participation in the development, review, and revision of land management plans including, but not limited to, making the plans or revisions available to the public at convenient locations in the vicinity of the affected unit for a period of at least three months before final adoption, during which period the Secretary shall publicize and hold public meetings or comparable processes at locations that foster public participation in the review of such plans or revisions. "Sec. 14. Public Participation and Advisory Boards.--(a) In exercising his authorities under this Act and other laws applicable to the Forest Service, the Secretary, by regulation, shall establish procedures, including public hearings where appropriate, to give the Federal, State, and local governments and the public adequate notice and an opportunity to comment upon the formulation of standards, criteria, and guidelines applicable to Forest Service programs.
IC Goals	The goal of this project is to collect information that will help the US Forest Service in upcoming recreation planning efforts on the forest. In particular, the survey instrument in this study is designed to collect information about visitors’ perceptions, experiences, and expectations, with respect to recreation opportunities, and visitor experience quality at this site on the Shasta-Trinity NF. The information collection is also designed to help identify recreation related issues experienced by visitors at the site, and assess visitors’ opinions about recreation planning and management.
Utility to Managers	Results will identify any issues of management concern or locations of visitor conflict. This will be incorporated into future resource management and recreation planning for the Shasta-Trinity National Forest.
How will the results of the IC be analyzed and used?	Information from the paper questionnaire will be entered into an Excel spreadsheet, and then imported for analysis into IBM SPSS Version 21, which is a well-established, common statistical software package. All data will be stored in electronic and hardcopy, and archived according to established data management procedures required by the Federal Government. The project manager will verify the quality of questionnaire electronic data entry. Upon study completion, the survey data collected in this study will be available from the USFS in a suitable electronic format, along with proper documentation. Results will identify any issues of management concern or locations of visitor conflict. This will be incorporated into future resource management and recreation planning for the Shasta-Trinity National Forest.
How will the data be tabulated? What Statistical Techniques will be used to generalize the results to the entire customer population? How will limitations on use of data be handled? If the survey results in a lower than anticipated response rate, how will you address this when reporting the results? (Use as much space as needed; if necessary include additional explanation on separate page). Survey questions include a mix of data types, including nominal (e.g., activity participation), ordinal (e.g., 5-point Likert-type attitude scales), and interval (e.g., number of past visits). We will report frequency distributions for all variables and means and standard errors for each interval-level variable. Differences between managerially relevant subgroups (e.g., visitors who engage in different activities or people who visit during different seasons) will be tested with Analysis of Variance (alpha = .05). Based on the projected sample size (639 completed questionnaires), there will be 95% confidence that the findings from the survey will be accurate to within 5 percentage points, and will have a power level greater than 0.80 for the range of statistical tests that will be conducted with the data in this study (two-tailed independent samples t-tests, multi-group Analysis of Variance, and chi-square tests of independence), at the .05 alpha-level. This level of accuracy and statistical power is generally accepted as sufficient in peer-reviewed social science quantitative studies. Thus, the proposed sample size will be adequate for bi-variate and multi-group comparisons. Analysis of the quantitative survey data collected in this study will use standard methods for survey research in parks and recreation settings.
Is this survey intended to measure a Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) performance measure? If so, please include an excerpt from the appropriate document. (Use as much space as needed; if necessary include additional explanation on separate page). This IC is not intended to measure a GPRA performance measure.

Certification Form for Submission Under OMB Control Number 0596-0236

This form should only be used if you are submitting a collection of information for approval under the USDA-Forest Service Federal Lands Transportation Generic Clearance.

If the collection does not satisfy the requirements of the Generic Clearance, you should follow the regular PRA clearance procedures described in 5 CFR 1320.

Bureau/Office – US Forest Service
IC Title (Please be specific) Mount Shasta Visitor Recreation Survey to Inform Recreation Planning and Management on the Shasta-Trinity National Forest
Estimated Number Contacts Respondents		Initial Contacts: 1470 Expected Respondents: 738		Time per Response Contacts Respondents		Initial contact: 1 minute Instrument completion: 15 minutes
				Total Burden Hours Contacts Respondents ------------ Total		Contacts: 1470 Respondents: 738 Total: ~15 minutes per respondent; 3 minute non-respondents; approximately 221.1 hours
Bureau/Office Contact (who can best answer questions about content of the submission): US Forest Service – Shasta-Trinity National Forest
Name	Jennifer Womack – [email protected] or Troy Hall – [email protected]		Phone	530-926-9616 541-737-1306
Certification: The collection of information requested by this submission meets the requirements of OMB control number 0596-0236
Bureau/Office Qualified Statistician David Hancock, USDA, NASS					DATE
Bureau/Office Information Collection Clearance Officer Nick DiProfio, Program Analyst, FS					DATE
Forest Service, Office of Regulatory and Management Services Charlene Parker, OCIO					DATE

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