3-2538 Alaska Guide Service Evaluation

F WS Form 3–2538 (Rev. 08/2023) OMB Control No. 1018-0141

U.S. Department of the Interior Expires ##/##/20##

ALASKA GUIDE SERVICE EVALUATION FORM

As a recent visitor to a National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska and a client of a refuge authorized guide service, we request that you complete this survey. Your responses will help ensure that refuge visitors in Alaska receive high quality services and experiences. You will not be contacted for further information unless you check the box at the end of this form indicating that it is all right to do so.

Section 1. Your guided trip

You are receiving this survey because you visited X [REFUGE FILLS THIS IN] National Wildlife Refuge and participated in a guided activity.

1. Where on the refuge did your guided trip occur? _______________________________________________________

2. On what date(s) did your guided trip occur? (Use the following format: mm-dd-yyyy – mm-dd-yyyy.)

_________________________________

3. What was the name of the outfitter(s) for your guided trip?

Outfitter name(s): ______________________________________________________________________________

• Not sure

4. What was the name(s) of the person(s) who guided you?

Guide Name(s): ________________________________________________________________________________

• Not sure

5. What were your top three purposes for coming to this National Wildlife Refuge? (Check up to three and use the ‘other’ option for trip purpose(s) that are not captured in the list.)

Wildlife Viewing	Fishing	Hunting
Scenic flight	Motorized boating	Non-motorized boating (e.g., rafting)
Photography	Birding	Hiking
Other (please list) _____________________	Other (please list) _____________________	Other (please list) _____________________

Section 2. Your experiences on your guided trip

We would like to know some details about your experience on your guided trip.

1. Please rate your level of agreement with the following statements. (Circle one number for each option.)

Your guide(s) provided information about…	Strongly Disagree	Disagree	Somewhat Disagree	Neither Agree or Disagree	Somewhat Agree	Agree	Strongly Agree
The purpose National Wildlife Refuges serve for wildlife	1	2	3	4	5	6	7
The purpose National Wildlife Refuges serve for the American people	1	2	3	4	5	6	7
The kinds of experiences refuges try to provide for visitors	1	2	3	4	5	6	7
The different types of wildlife and their habitats on the refuge	1	2	3	4	5	6	7
Use of the refuge by Alaskans local to the area you visited	1	2	3	4	5	6	7

2. Please rate your level of agreement with the following statements. (Circle one number for each option.)

Your guide(s)…	Strongly Disagree	Disagree	Somewhat Disagree	Neither Agree or Disagree	Somewhat Agree	Agree	Strongly Agree
Made you feel welcome	1	2	3	4	5	6	7
Practiced ways to minimize how crowded you felt	1	2	3	4	5	6	7
Practiced ways to minimize negative interactions with other refuge visitors	1	2	3	4	5	6	7
Addressed concerns that might have affected the quality of your trip	1	2	3	4	5	6	7
Used skills that kept you safe	1	2	3	4	5	6	7
Used skills that helped protect wildlife and their habitat on the refuge	1	2	3	4	5	6	7
Possessed the necessary skills to guide you effectively for the primary purpose(s) of your trip	1	2	3	4	5	6	7

3. Please rate your level of agreement with the following statement. (Circle one number.)

You guide(s)	Strongly Disagree	Disagree	Somewhat Disagree	Neither Agree or Disagree	Somewhat Agree	Agree	Strongly Agree	Not Applicable
Accommodated your accessibility needs	1	2	3	4	5	6	7

4. Please rate your level of agreement with the following statement. (Circle one number.)

	Strongly Disagree	Disagree	Somewhat Disagree	Neither Agree or Disagree	Somewhat Agree	Agree	Strongly Agree
My guided experience was what I expected based on the guide’s advertisement	1	2	3	4	5	6	7

Section 3. Your satisfaction with your guided trip

1. How satisfied were you with the condition of the natural environment on the refuge? (Circle one number.)

   Extremely Dissatisfied	Moderately Dissatisfied	Slightly Dissatisfied	Neutral / Not Sure	Slightly Satisfied	Moderately Satisfied	Extremely Satisfied
   1	2	3	4	5	6	7

2. Thinking back to your top three purposes for coming to this National Wildlife Refuge that you told us about in Section 1, Question 5, please rate your level of agreement with the following statements. (Circle one number for each option.) [Online survey software will auto-populate this list with the respondent’s previous answers]

   My guide helped make my trip successful for my purpose(s).	Strongly Disagree	Disagree	Somewhat Disagree	Neither Agree or Disagree	Somewhat Agree	Agree	Strongly Agree
   Selected purpose #1	1	2	3	4	5	6	7
   Selected purpose #2	1	2	3	4	5	6	7
   Selected purpose #3	1	2	3	4	5	6	7

3. How satisfied were you with your trip overall? (Circle one number.)

   Extremely Dissatisfied	Moderately Dissatisfied	Slightly Dissatisfied	Neutral / Not Sure	Slightly Satisfied	Moderately Satisfied	Extremely Satisfied
   1	2	3	4	5	6	7

4. Please rate your level of agreement with the following statements. (Circle one number for each option.)

	Strongly Disagree	Disagree	Somewhat Disagree	Neither Agree or Disagree	Somewhat Agree	Agree	Strongly Agree
Crowding negatively affected the quality of my trip	1	2	3	4	5	6	7
Conflict with other refuge visitors negatively affected the quality of my trip	1	2	3	4	5	6	7

Section 4. Improvements

Please tell us a little about how your guided trip experience could have been improved.

1. What are the top three things your guide(s) could have done to have made your experience better? Please list one item per line.

1. ___________________________________________________________________________________

2. ___________________________________________________________________________________

3. ___________________________________________________________________________________

2. What are the top three things the National Wildlife Refuge could have done to have made your experience better? Please list one item per line.

1. ___________________________________________________________________________________

2. ___________________________________________________________________________________

3. ___________________________________________________________________________________

Section 5. A little about you

Please tell us a little bit about yourself. Your answers to these questions will help us learn more about who goes on guided trips on Alaska National Wildlife Refuges and allows us to compare this with other public data sources.

1. Are you

   • Male

   • Female

   • Transgender

   • Prefer not to say

   • Other (Please specify) _________________________

2. What is your country of residence?

   • USA

   • Canada

   • Other (Please specify) __________________________

3. What is your zip code? _________

4. In what year were you born? (YYYY) _________

5. What race or ethnicity do you consider yourself? (Mark all that apply)

   • White

   • Alaska Native

   • Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish

   • Black or African American

   • American Indian

   • Asian

   • Middle Eastern or North African

   • Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander

   • Some other race or ethnicity

6. How many years of formal schooling have you had? (Circle one number.)

   1 2 3 4 5	6 7 8	9 10 11 12	13 14 15 16	17 18 19 20+
   (elementary)	(junior high or middle school)	(high school)	(college or technical school)	(graduate or professional school)

7. What was your approximate household income from all sources (before taxes) last year? (Please select only one.)

   • Less than $49,999

   • $50,000 to $74,999

   • $75,000 to $99,999

   • $100,000 to $249,999

   • $250,000 or more

Section 6. Follow-up

1. Do you give the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service permission to follow-up with you based on your responses to this survey? This is optional and not required. (Mark only one.)

   • Yes

   • No

If you answered ‘yes’ to the previous question, please provide us with your name and contact information. This is optional and not required.

Name: ___________________________________________________________________________________

Address: _________________________________________________________________________________

Phone Number: ____________________________________________________________________________

Email address: _____________________________________________________________________________

Thank you for completing the survey.

Please use the space below for any additional comments you

may have regarding your guided trip to this refuge.

Comments?

NOTICES

Privacy Act Statement

Authority: The information requested is authorized by the National Wildlife Refuge System Administration Act (16 U.S.C. 668dd-ee) and the National Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act of 1997 (P.L. 105-57).

Purpose: The contact information of refuge visitors using a refuge authorized guide service will help gauge client satisfaction with the services.

Routine Uses: The information will be used by the refuge’s administrative office to evaluate the quality of services provided by commercial guides on Alaskan National Wildlife Refuges and the impact of the activity on refuge resources. Information about additional routine uses can be found in the Systems of Records Notice, FWS-5 National Wildlife Refuge Special Use Permits.

Disclosure: Providing the information is voluntary. All information collected will be aggregated and used for statistical purposes to evaluate commercial services.

PAPERWORK REDUCTION ACT STATEMENT

We collect this information subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.) to help ensure quality visitor services on national wildlife refuges in Alaska and to respond to requests made under the Freedom of Information Act and the Privacy Act of 1974. We will aggregate the information and use it only for statistical purposes. Your response is voluntary. According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, no persons are required to respond to a collection of information unless such collection displays a valid OMB control number. OMB has approved this collection of information and assigned Control No. 1018-0141.

ESTIMATED BURDEN STATEMENT

Public reporting for FWS Form 3-2349 is estimated to be 20 minutes per response for web submissions, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden, to the Service Information Collection Clearance Officer, Division of Policy, Performance, and Management Programs, Fish and Wildlife Service, MS: PRB (JAO/3W), 5275 Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, VA 22041-3803, or via email at Info_Coll@fws.gov. Please do not send your completed form to this address.

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT STATEMENT

Information provided to the Service is generally subject to release to the public under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Certain information, however, may be subject to withholding if the Service determines that the information is a trade secret and/or commercial or financial information that is privileged or confidential. To the extent you are submitting business information that falls into one of these categories, you must clearly mark this information as "Business Confidential" in order for the Service to assess the applicability of FOIA Exemption 4. Any information provided by you that is not marked as “Business Confidential” will be considered releasable to the public under the FOIA [43 CFR 2.26 – 2.33].

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