Revised Final Questions Justificaitons

Question Justifications
Primary Objectives Pertinent to Surveys:
(1)
Recreation Preferences: The general recreation questions are intended to supply
sufficient data to determine the overall existing recreation condition (affected environment),
determine the demand, user preference, emerging trends, and changes in demographic profile of
users, changing values, user expectations and needs, and the quality of the recreation experience
for a variety of recreation activities within a particular geographic area. The information will
allow us to adequately assess potential impacts to recreation resources from a variety of proposed
Federal actions and help in determining where to allocate funds to meet pubic needs and increase
public satisfaction.
(2)
Visitation Estimation: The visitation questions are intended to gather
information from current recreation users as to how their visitation by recreation activity might
change under different river flow and reservoir surface elevation conditions. Since the
hydrologic conditions vary throughout the recreation season, the intent is to gather sufficient
reservoir surface elevation, river flow, and visitation data for estimating visitation impacts using
linear interpolation. By gathering this type of information at various points (i.e., low and high
thresholds where visitation goes to zero), a total visitation curve can be created. Visitation
estimates based on alternative specific river flows and reservoir elevations can then be developed
by interpolating between data points. Knowing the visitation at a particular area allows us to
adequately plan for and meet public demand for water-based recreation.
(3)
Travel Cost Modeling: These types of questions allow us to gather recreation
specific user data for possible travel cost modeling that can be used to estimate recreation
economic values.
(4)
Regional Economic Impacts: These types of questions are intended to gather
data on per trip expenditures by recreation activity for use in the regional economic impact
analysis. The expenditure per trip and economic sector would be applied to estimates of trips by
recreation activity and alternatively obtained from the interpolation analysis. The expenditures
by economic sector would then be used in conjunction with a regional input/output model to
estimate impacts of a proposed Federal action on regional income, jobs, etc.
(5)
Ethnicity and Race: These types of questions are intended to gather statistical
data to be used to establish a visitor profile of recreation users to Reclamation lands and waters.
(6)
Questions That May Be Non-applicable: Certain aspects of certain questions
within a specific survey may not be applicable to the recreation site being surveyed. For
example, questions 7 and 8 of the Recreation Management Survey and question 5 of the River
Recreation Quality Survey contain a list of issues and/or items that may or may not be present at
a recreation site. To not further burden the respondent, those issues and items that are not
applicable to the recreation site will be deleted from the question. Reclamation will review each
survey questionnaire when conducting an information collection and delete items that are not

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applicable to the site being surveyed. Note: Reclamation will, under no circumstances, add
questions or items to a survey or question that have not already been approved by OMB.
Generally, all the collected information as described in this Question Justification section will be
used in a variety of planning reports and studies and NEPA documents to address existing
baseline conditions and to address and analyze potential impacts of proposed Federal actions.
Tabulated results will allow decisionmakers to make informed decisions on supplying
appropriate facilities and services to meet the needs of a diversified public.

Justification of Questions by Survey Questionnaire:
Marina Survey
Q1 and 2: Questions are intended to determine if respondents are boaters and, if not, the
respondents will not be asked to participate in the survey.
Q3: Question is intended to determine the type and size of the boat that respondents are using on
the lake or river being surveyed and to establish the boater user group(s) that most often
frequents the water body. Information is used to describe the existing condition.
Q4: Question is intended to solicit respondents past and current use of marina facilities for
mooring their boat. Information can help determine future use of marina facilities.
Q5, 6, and 7: Questions are intended to generate information that can help determine the existing
boating environment at the lake or river being studied and where respondents most often
participate in their boating activity.
Q8: Question is intended to help identify the number of visitors who participate in boating
activities at the lake or reservoir being studied. Information will help in determining total
visitation and the recreation boating economic value to the local area.
Q9 thru 16: Questions are intended to help in determining the boating opportunities
(moorings/slips), and the goods and services that could be provided by a concession operation at
the river or lake being studied. The information helps in determining the feasibility of providing
those opportunities to the boating public.
Q17 thru 19: Questions are intended to gather statistical data to be used to establish a visitor
profile of recreation users to Reclamation lands and waters and provide managers with pertinent
statistical information to make informed decisions.
Campground Survey
Section A: In this section, Reclamation is interested in learning about the respondents camping
activities during the last 12 months and the factors that influence where the respondent goes
camping.

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Q1, 2, and 3: Questions are intended to determine the number of trips, how many trips taken in
the last 12 months, and the recreation activities participated in while camping. Information
establishes the current recreation camping environment/condition at the area being surveyed.
Information will be used for future planning efforts.
Q4: Question is intended to gather information pertaining to how important respondents feel a
variety of facilities, services, amenities, and services are to their camping experience.
Information will be used to help determine what opportunities to provide to campers to increase
their user satisfaction of the site and to target funds to areas where it will do the most good.
Section B: In this section, Reclamation is interested in obtaining information about respondents
camping trips to the area being surveyed. Information helps in determining use patterns of
respondents.
Q1 and 2: Questions are intended to determine if respondent’s camping trips to the area being
surveyed are their primary purpose of the trips (i.e., destination spot) or part of a larger trip
itinerary and the distance traveled to the site. Information helps in determining the current
recreation profile and existing environment/condition.
Q3 thru 7: Questions are intended to determine the make-up of respondents group, type of
facilities being used, type of primary recreational equipment being used (i.e., boat, bicycle,
fishing equipment etc.), and type of activities respondents and members of their camping party
are participating in at the recreation site. Information helps determine the user profile and the
existing recreation environment/condition.
Q8 thru 11: Questions are intended to generate information to determine how respondents rate
the quality of existing facilities, services, and amenities at the campground being visited and how
the respondent personally feels about the campground. Information will help assess the overall
quality of existing facilities and what needs to be accomplished to increase user satisfaction at
the site.
Section C: In this section, Reclamation is concerned about how respondents feel about the fees
at the area being surveyed.
Q1 and 2: Questions are intended to identify how important the site is to the respondent in
relationship to the fee(s) paid, personal views on fees under a variety of circumstances, and what
should be done with the fees. Information will be used to establish an appropriate fee schedule
that meets user expectations in relationship to the services provided. Actions taken will direct
funds to the appropriate places to increase user satisfaction with the site being surveyed.
Section D – Q 1 thru 3: Questions are intended to gather statistical data to be used to establish a
visitor profile of recreation users to Reclamation lands and waters and provide managers with
pertinent statistical information to make informed decisions.

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River Instream Flow Survey and Reservoir Preferred Water Level Survey
Note: These two surveys are discussed together because the questions are the same except that
one is tailored for a river and the other is for a reservoir. The only difference is the types of
recreation activities discussed (i.e., activities differ depending on if you are visiting a lake or
river). These surveys have been used in a variety of studies and have been field tested and have
proven to be effective especially concerning the information related to describing different river
flows and reservoir elevations and the impact to users that may be caused by changing the
hydrological conditions of a body of water.
Q1, 2, and 3: Questions are intended to generate information that will allow Reclamation to
determine the users current perception of the river or reservoir they are visiting during their
trip(s) and their feelings about changing the available water supply. Information will assist in
documenting the current recreation condition at the site and to analyze what would happen to the
recreation environment if water levels would change.
Q4 and 5: Questions are intended to get respondents to think about the different recreation
activities they are pursuing during their trips as well as to introduce the concept of a primary
recreation activity. Information would be used for future planning efforts.
Q6 and 7: Questions provide information for the current trip data point. The allocation of trips
by “season” helps identify which months the river flows or reservoir elevations would be most
important for each primary activity. Information allows Reclamation managers to anticipate
when peak visitation occurs for certain activities and enables them to manage the area
accordingly (i.e., plan for peak visitation periods and provide the appropriate number of
personnel to manage the situation).
Q8 and 9: Questions are intended to assist in describing the existing recreation condition in the
area by asking the respondent for the number of visits and days or hours spent participating in
their primary activity. Information allows Reclamation to concentrate planning efforts and
funding on facilities and services that best support certain recreation activities and that will
increase user satisfaction.
Q10: Question identifies those facilities that are most often used by visitors to lakes and rivers.
Collected information will be used for planning purposes and to concentrate funding for
maintenance of those facilities that are most often used by visitors.
Q11 and 12: Questions gather data on per trip recreation expenditures for a regional economic
analysis. The percentage of the total expenditures associated with each category in Q11 is
applied to the estimate of total expenditures by primary activity (Q12), with some minor
adjustment, to estimate expenditures per trip by activity and expenditure category. These
expenditures are then multiplied by the estimated number of trips by activity and a variety of
alternatives from the interpolation analysis and then summed to estimate total expenditures by
category for use in the regional economic analysis. The regional economic analysis would
obviously focus on those expenditures which occur within the local area (Q11).

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Q13 and 14: Questions gather information data on preferred flows and reservoir elevations by
primary activities and the associated changes in trips and days or hours per trip under preferred
conditions. This preferred flow or elevation data point represents the pinnacle of the total
visitation curve.
Q15: Question generates data on the upper and lower conditions where recreationists would stop
participating in each primary activity. This reflects the point where total visitation curve would
hit the horizontal axis. Visitation is assumed to be zero at these two points.
Q16 thru 21: Questions are intended to determine what types of user conflicts are occurring on
the rivers and reservoirs, who the conflicts are with and what users did if conflicts were
encountered. The information will assist in determining the existing recreation condition and
potential impacts under different alternatives that may be considered when implementing a
management strategy that affects changes in river flow and reservoir elevation. Information
allows Reclamation to make adjustment to its management strategies to reduce user conflicts,
increase the quality of the respondent’s recreation experience, and increase user satisfaction with
the site.
Q22 thru 24: Questions are intended to gather statistical data to be used to establish a visitor
profile of recreation users to Reclamation lands and waters and provide managers with pertinent
statistical information to make informed decisions.
Lake/River Visit Expenditure Survey
Part I – Lake Trips Worksheet is intended to gather baseline information about respondent’s day
and overnight trips to a number of lakes or reservoirs in the area. Information helps determine
the existing user pattern of the visitor to the geographic area.
Part II – Q1, 2, and 3 are intended to gather information related to the amount of time spent at the
lakes identified in Part I and the activities respondents participated in at those lakes or rivers.
Information will be used for future planning purposes to help determine where funds can be
targeted at a particular site to meet the needs and expectations of visitors.
Part III, Q 4 and 5: Questions are intended to collect information that will be used to determine
the recreation economic value that visiting the lakes/rivers listed will have to the local economy
and how the expenses in the worksheet compare with respondents typical trips. Information will
be used to compare trips to a lake or river to other trips taken by respondents.
Part IV – Q6 thru 8: Questions are intended to gather statistical data to be used to establish a
visitor profile of recreation users to Reclamation lands and waters and provide managers with
pertinent statistical information to make informed decisions.

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Recreation Activities Survey
Section A – Q1 and 2: Questions are considered screening questions to determine the activities
visitors are participating in and, in order of importance, what five activities are the most
important to respondents. Question 2 is also intended to generate the number of people
participating in the five major activities and the percent of time spent doing those activities.
Information will be used to help assess the current recreation environment (i.e., visitation,
activities participated in, etc.), evaluate existing programs, and implement actions that can add
value to the quality of the visitors experience at the area being surveyed. Since different
activities have different recreation economic values, the collected information can provide us
with the total value that recreation has to the local economy.
Section B – General Activity Characteristics, Q 3 thru 7: Questions are intended to provide
Reclamation with basic information about the number of times the site was visited when a
respondent was participating in their primary activity to help determine visitation to the area.
Section C – Activity Behavior (Boating, Fishing, Hunting, and Camping), Q8 thru 23: Questions
are intended to collect information about what respondents are doing while visiting the area
being surveyed. Information is generally used to better understand the existing situation or
condition at the area being surveyed and use the information in future planning efforts.
Q24 thru 30: Questions are intended to identify the barriers and constraints to participating in
respondent’s primary activities and determine the quality of the recreation experience for
respondents (i.e., user satisfaction). The information will be used to identify what can be
accomplished to improve the quality of the recreation experience for visitors and measure
respondent’s satisfaction with the area.
Q31 thru 33: Questions are intended to gather statistical data to be used to establish a visitor
profile of recreation users to Reclamation lands and waters and provide managers with pertinent
statistical information to make informed decisions.
Recreation Management Survey
Note: The tables in questions 7 and 8 will be adjusted to only include those items that are
relevant to the site where the surveys are being administered.
A. Activity Participation, Q1 and 2: Questions are intended to identify all the activities that
respondents participate in at the area being surveyed and the number of times in a typical year
that respondents participate in the activities. Information will be used to describe and understand
the existing recreation environment and to assist in future planning efforts.
B. Fees for use of Facilities, Q3 thru Q5: Questions are intended to measure the attitude of
respondents to charging fees for participating in different activities and, if respondents paid a fee,
were they satisfied with the value of the fee paid. Specifically, Q5 is asked because Reclamation
is interested in determining if the respondent used one of the America the Beautiful – The

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National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Pass to access the recreation site as opposed to
paying a general fee. Information will be used to help determine if the fee schedule may need to
be adjusted and to meet our GPRA reporting requirements.
C. Park Ranger, Q6: Question is intended to simply find out what the respondent thinks about
the current presence of the Park Ranger(s) at the area. The information will be used to adjust, if
necessary, the Park Ranger activities.
D and E – Management Issue Areas and Management Performance, Q7 and 8: The questions
ask the respondent to identify how serious they think a variety of possible issues are at the area
and whether respondents are satisfied with the management of multiple items. This information
will be used by decisionmakers in adjusting management strategies to better serve the recreating
public.
F – Q9 thru 11: Questions are intended to gather statistical data to be used to establish a visitor
profile of recreation users to Reclamation lands and waters and provide managers with pertinent
statistical information to make informed decisions.
Fee Survey
Q1 thru 5: Questions are the same as Q1 thru 5 of the Recreation Management Survey
mentioned above and the collected information will be used for the same purposes.
Q6 thru 8: Questions are intended to gather statistical data to be used to establish a visitor profile
of recreation users to Reclamation lands and waters and provide managers with pertinent
statistical information to make informed decisions.
Recreation Development Survey
Q1: This question is intended to introduce the respondent to a proposed development and what
the respondent would do about using other recreation sites. This information will assist in
determining what the impact to other recreation sites would be if the proposed development was
completed (i.e., what are the net benefits in the regional or local area of completing the proposed
development).
Q2 and 3: Questions are intended to get respondents to indicate what fees they would be willing
to pay for the proposed development rather than do without it and, if they are not willing to pay
for the development, why not? Information will be used by decisionmakers to determine the
value to respondents of completing the proposed development and whether to proceed with
development.
Q4 thru 6: Questions are intended to gather statistical data to be used to establish a visitor profile
of recreation users to Reclamation lands and waters and provide managers with pertinent
statistical information to make informed decisions.

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Water Level Impacts on Recreation Boating Use Survey
Q1: Question is intended to determine the number of trips respondents made to the
lake/reservoir being surveyed and the number of days or hours spent at the site for each trip. The
collected information will be used to understand respondents current boating use patterns which
can then be compared with respondent’s response to the other questions in the survey.
Q2: Question is intended to collect information from respondents about how their use patterns
might change given a scenario where the water level was altered by a specific number of feet.
The information will be used to compare the existing use pattern (i.e., number of trips and length
of stay) of respondents and what their use patterns might be with the change in water elevation.
Q3 thru 6: The questions are intended to determine what, if anything, the respondents would do
if they knew what the water elevation was before leaving on their trip. Depending on the
respondent’s responses for a variety of possibilities, information will be used to determine the
potential impacts to boat users resulting from the prescribed change in water elevation.
Q7 thru 11: Questions are the same as Q2 thru Q6 but address a different water level reduction
(i.e., scenario 2). The information obtained from all the questions will help in identifying
impacts (amount of trips and length of stay) under two different scenarios compared to the
existing condition.
Q12 thru 13: Questions are intended to gather statistical data to be used to establish a visitor
profile of recreation users to Reclamation lands and waters and provide managers with pertinent
statistical information to make informed decisions.
River Recreation Quality Survey
Note: Question 5 will be adjusted to only include those items that are relevant to the site where
the surveys are being administered.
Q1 and 2: Questions are intended to collect information on how important the river is to
respondents overall and for different sections/stretches of the river being studied. Information
will be used to establish baseline information about the river which will be used to describe the
existing condition in a variety of planning reports and studies.
Q3: Question is intended to collect information from respondents concerning several factors
such as water quality, erosion, conflicts, economics, and use of the river by outfitters/guides.
Again, this information allows us to establish a baseline condition.
Q4: Question is intended to collect information about the availability and quality of a variety of
opportunities and facilities on or along the river. This information will be used to establish a
baseline condition to compare with potential changes to the river corridor.

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Q5: Question is intended to solicit information from respondents concerning how they feel about
a variety of proposed management actions. Collected information will be used to compare with
information from the first 4 questions.
Q6 and 7: Questions are intended to collect information about how respondents compare the
river being studied to other rivers and how the river being studied provides specific personal and
area benefits. Information will be used to document how visitors to the area view the importance
of the river to the visitor as well as the local area and to assist in future planning efforts.
Q8: Question is intended to collect information about potential problems along the river
corridor. Information will be used to change management strategies to correct identified
problems to increase user satisfaction with the opportunities, facilities, and services along the
river being studied.
Q9 thru 11: Questions are intended to gather statistical data to be used to establish a visitor
profile of recreation users to Reclamation lands and waters and provide managers with pertinent
statistical information to make informed decisions.
Customized Surveys
Since these surveys will be customized to address a specific need at a specific river or
lake/reservoir in the Western United States, the exact questions cannot be determined at this
time. Customized survey questionnaires will consist only of OMB pre-approved questions;
therefore, the justifications for collecting such information and how Reclamation uses the
information per individual question(s) will be the same as specified above.

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