Survey 1 - Survey of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Habitat Conservation Bank Sponsors

OMB Control No: 1018-XXXX

Expiration Date: XX/XX/2018

Survey of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Habitat Conservation Bank Sponsors

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and the Department of the Interior’s Office of Policy Analysis are undertaking an analysis of the USFWS habitat conservation banking program. As part of this analysis, we are surveying conservation bank sponsors and managers to obtain information on experiences with and opinions of various aspects of the conservation banking program. Your responses as a conservation bank sponsor are critical to our efforts. Responses to the survey are anonymous and will be reported in aggregate form.

If you have any questions or have trouble completing the survey, please contact Sarah Cline, DOI Office of Policy Analysis, at 202-208-6018 or sarah_cline@ios.doi.gov.

Paperwork Reduction Act Statement: This survey is authorized by the Endangered Species Act. It will provide information necessary for us to understand the current performance of the conservation banking program and to identify areas where the program can be improved. Your response is voluntary. We may not conduct or sponsor and you are not required to respond to an information collection unless it displays a currently valid Office of Management and Budget (OMB) control number. We estimate that it will take conservation bank sponsors about 10 minutes to complete this survey, which includes time to gather information, read instructions, and complete the survey. You may send comments on any aspect of this information collection to the Information Collection Clearance Officer, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 5275 Leesburg Pike, (Mail Stop BPHC), Falls Church, VA 22041

The questions in this survey pertain to your organization’s experiences with habitat conservation banking, not wetlands or stream mitigation banking. Please answer the following questions based solely on your organization’s experience with habitat conservation banks administered by USFWS or banks jointly administered by USFWS and another agency.

1. Are you involved in the management of a company or organization that sponsors conservation banks?

   1. Yes

   2. No

2. How many years has your organization been involved in conservation banking?

______________________________

2. Does your organization require your staff to take conservation banking training? (Please choose one answer below)

1. Yes

2. No

3. It depends: __________________________________

2. How many conservation banks has USFWS approved for your organization? (Please count only USFWS conservation banks and banks jointly administered by USFWS and another agency )

_______________________________________________

2. Please list the acreage of each of the banks included in Question Number 4.

_______________________________________________

2. How long did each of the following phases of conservation bank development take for the conservation banks you have had approved through the USFWS program? (Please list the length of time for the planning stage and approval stage for each bank below, as well as the percentage of the total time for each phase that was spent waiting for input or a response from USFWS staff)

	Planning phase		Final approval phase
	Total time (enter number of months from outset to initial submission to USFWS)	% of time waiting for input/response from USFWS	Total time (enter number of months from initial submission to USFWS to final approval)	% of time waiting for input/response from USFWS	State	Species/Habitat
Bank 1
Bank 2
Bank 3
Bank 4
Bank 5
Bank 6
Bank 7
Bank 8
Bank 9
Bank 10
Bank 11
Bank 12
Bank 13
Bank 14
Bank 15
Bank 16
Bank 17
Bank 18
Bank 19
Bank 20
Bank 21
Bank 22
Bank 23

2. How do you perceive current demand for additional conservation banks in your region(s)? (Please answer for each region in which your company works)

Region	No demand	Weak demand	Modest demand	Strong demand	Very strong demand	Don’t know/No opinion
1 (Pacific)
2 (Southwest)
3 (Great Lakes-Big Rivers)
4 (Southeast)
5 (Northeast)
6 (Mountain-Prairie)
7 (Alaska)
8 (California & Nevada)
Region 1: ID, OR, WA, HI, Pacific Islands; Region 2: AZ, NM, OK, TX; Region 3: IL, IN, IA, MI, MO, MN, OH, WI; Region 4: AL, AR, FL, GA, KY, LA, MS, NC, PR/VI, SC, TN; Region 5: CT, DE, ME, MD, MA, NH, NJ, NY, PA, RI, VT, VA, WV; Region 6: CO, KS, MT, ND, NE, SD, UT, WY; Region 7: AK; Region 8: CA, NV

2. Do you expect demand for additional conservation banks to change over the next 2-3 years? (Please answer for each region in which you work or expect to work in the future)

Region	No	Decrease	Increase	Don’t know/No opinion
1 (Pacific)
2 (Southwest)
3 (Great Lakes-Big Rivers)
4 (Southeast)
5 (Northeast)
6 (Mountain-Prairie)
7 (Alaska)
8 (California & Nevada)
Region 1: ID, OR, WA, HI, Pacific Islands; Region 2: AZ, NM, OK, TX; Region 3: IL, IN, IA, MI, MO, MN, OH, WI; Region 4: AL, AR, FL, GA, KY, LA, MS, NC, PR/VI, SC, TN; Region 5: CT, DE, ME, MD, MA, NH, NJ, NY, PA, RI, VT, VA, WV; Region 6: CO, KS, MT, ND, NE, SD, UT, WY; Region 7: AK; Region 8: CA, NV

2. Does your organization support changes to the USFWS’s current guidance (“Guidance for the Establishment, Use, and Operation of Conservation Banks”) or the adoption of new conservation banking regulations (no regulations currently exist for conservation banking)? (Please select one answer below)

1. Yes – Changes to current guidance

2. Yes – Development of new regulations

3. Yes – Both changes to guidance and development of new regulations

4. No

5. No opinion

2. If yes, what specific changes does your organization support?

_______________________________________________

2. Is there anything else you would like to add that was not addressed in the questions above?

Thank You!

Thank you for participating in our survey! Your responses are very valuable for our analysis of the USFWS conservation banking program.

Please click "Done" to submit your responses.

If you have any questions or comments about the survey, please contact Sarah Cline at the DOI Office of Policy Analysis: sarah_cline@ios.doi.gov, phone: 202-208-6018.