National Woodland Owner Survey: Letters and Postcards

Appendix VII. National Woodland Owner Survey – Letters and Postcards

Please note that the following is intended to convey only content and not the actual format of the final letters or postcards. Place holders for specific information, e.g., state name, are indicated by angled brackets.

Pre-notice Postcard

Dear Woodland Owner:

Within the next few days you will receive a questionnaire in the mail from the National Woodland Owner Survey. You are one of only a few woodland owners who will receive it. The questionnaire is designed to give you an opportunity to let policy makers, land managers, and public and private service providers know what some of your concerns are. This information will help them better understand and address your needs. We invite you to participate in the survey by completing the questionnaire when it arrives. Your participation is voluntary and all responses are strictly confidential. If you have any questions regarding the Survey, please call us toll-free at 1-866-396-6967, visit our website at www.fia.fs.fed.us/nwos, or write us at USDA Forest Service, National Woodland Owner Survey, 160 Holdsworth Way, Amherst, MA 01002.

<Signature of USDA Forest Service Official>

Cover letter to accompany first questionnaire

Dear Woodland Owner:

We invite you to participate in the National Woodland Owner Survey being conducted by the United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service. Your participation in this survey will help policy makers, land managers, and public and private service providers better understand and address your needs and concerns. The results of this survey will be used to help provide services and technical assistance.

You were identified as a woodland owner from public records that indicate that you are among the approximately <insert number> owners of woodland in <insert state>. We will contact only a few of these owners. Because of the limited number of woodland owners contacted, your answers are especially important.

Your participation in this survey is voluntary. Your answers to the questions will be kept confidential and will be combined with those of others. The results will only be used to determine patterns and trends.

Completing the questionnaire should take no more than about <insert estimate> minutes of your time. A postage-paid return envelope is included for you to return the completed questionnaire to us.

If you would like to receive a copy of the results from the survey, please write your name and address on the back of the envelope that you use to return the completed questionnaire.

We greatly appreciate your valuable assistance.

<Signature of USDA Forest Service Official>

Reminder Postcard

Dear Woodland Owner:

A week ago we mailed you a questionnaire inviting you to participate in the National Woodland Owner Survey. If you have recently sent the completed questionnaire back we sincerely thank you. You may have intended to complete the questionnaire but perhaps you misplaced it or simply forget about it, so we sent this reminder. Completing the questionnaire is an opportunity for you to provide information that will be used by policy makers, land managers, and public and private service providers to better understand and address things that are important to you and other woodland owners. We understand that your time is very valuable. However, the 20 minutes or so that it takes to complete the questionnaire will help us to develop more complete and accurate information about woodland owners. If you have any questions regarding the Survey, please call us toll-free at 1-866-396-6967, visit our website at www.fia.fs.fed.us/nwos, or write us at USDA Forest Service, National Woodland Owner Survey, 160 Holdsworth Way, Amherst, MA 01002.

<Signature of USDA Forest Service Official>

Cover letter to accompany second questionnaire

Dear Woodland Owner:

Several weeks ago we sent you a questionnaire inviting you to participate in the National Woodland Owner Survey. You may have intended to complete the questionnaire but perhaps you misplaced it or simply forget about it. If you have recently sent the completed questionnaire back we apologize for contacting you again and sincerely thank you. But if you have not completed the questionnaire now may be a good time to do so. For your convenience we have enclosed another copy of the questionnaire with this mailing. It should take about <insert estimate> minutes to complete.

Your participation is voluntary, but because of the limited number of woodland owners included in the survey, your answers are especially important. Your answers to the questions will be kept strictly confidential, and will be combined with those of others. The results will be used by policy makers, land managers, and public and private service providers to better understand and address things that are important to you, and other woodland owners.

If you have questions regarding the Survey, please call us toll-free at 1-866-396-6967, visit our website at www.fia.fs.fed.us/nwos, or write us at USDA Forest Service, National Woodland Owner Survey, 160 Holdsworth Way, Amherst, MA 01002.

<Signature of USDA Forest Service Official>