Cover Letter #2 - Las Vegas Wash Survey

February 4, 2008
Dear Las Vegas area resident,
About three weeks ago we sent a questionnaire to your household, asking for your help with a study that Utah State
University is conducting for the Bureau of Land Management. As a reminder, this study is focused on the Upper
Las Vegas Wash, an undeveloped area located to the north of your neighborhood. Increased demand for residential
and commercial development has generated proposals to make some public land areas surrounding the Wash
available for purchase by private development interests. The enclosed survey questionnaire is designed to help
BLM decision-makers understand how people who live in nearby neighborhoods think about and make use of this
area, before decisions about future management approaches are finalized.
We have already heard back from many of the people whose households were included in our sample. However, to
the best of our knowledge we have not received a completed questionnaire from your household. If you or another
adult in your household already has completed the questionnaire and our packages crossed in the mail, please
accept our sincere thanks and disregard this letter. If not, we are writing again to ask that the appropriate household
member do so as soon as possible. As a reminder, we are asking that the questionnaire be completed by the person
18 years of age or older in your household whose birthday occurred most recently. This approach allows us to
insure that our sample will include an even mix of men and women, and older and younger members of households.
Participation in this study is entirely voluntary, and there are no penalties for choosing not to complete and return
the questionnaire. However, please keep in mind that a response from your household is very important if we are to
obtain an accurate understanding about the views and concerns of people who, like you, live in neighborhoods
located near to the Upper Las Vegas Wash. Only by hearing from nearly everyone in our random sample can we be
sure the results of this study are truly representative.
All survey responses will remain anonymous. Study findings will be released only as summaries in which no
individual’s answers can be identified. The questionnaire has an identification number on it only so we can remove
your address from the mailing list when the survey is returned, and avoid bothering you with additional mailings.
The original list of names and addresses included in our random sample will be destroyed as soon as the survey
mailing process is completed. Individual’s names will not be connected to the results in any way. The Utah State
University Institutional Review Board has certified that this study presents no significant risks to any participant.
The U.S. Office of Management and Budget has also approved this research under the Paperwork Reduction Act.
The U.S. Department of Interior will use results of the study to better serve the public.
In case you have misplaced the materials that we sent earlier, an additional copy of the questionnaire along with a
postage-paid return envelope are enclosed. We hope that you will help us by taking the 25-30 minutes needed to
fill out and return the questionnaire. The response of people who live near the Upper Las Vegas Wash to this
project has been excellent so far. However, for our findings to be complete we really need your views as well.
If you have any questions or comments about this study, please feel free to contact Dr. Richard Krannich by
telephone (435-797-1241) or by e-mail (Richard.Krannich@usu.edu). Thank you very much for helping us with
this important study!
Sincerely,

Richard S. Krannich
Professor of Sociology and Project Director