Follow-up to Refusal Template

U.S. Department of Agriculture

National Agricultural Statistics Service

2013 National Resources Inventory – Conservation Effects Assessment Project

Follow-up to Refusal Template

[DATE]

Dear Mr. / Mrs. [NAME],

I am writing to follow-up with you about the 2013 National Resources Inventory (NRI) – Conservation Effects

Assessment Project (CEAP). We hope you reconsider participating in the CEAP survey. It is important. This

survey was last conducted for the Sacramento River Watershed/San Joaquin River Watershed/Tulare Lake Watershed more than five years ago and this year, your field was one of only XXX in [STATE] selected as part of the survey.

Your response will help:

• Improve and strengthen technical and financial programs that help landowners plan and install conservation practices on agricultural land.

• Provide a complete picture of conservation practices in Sacramento River Watershed/San Joaquin River Watershed/Tulare Lake Watershed.

• Illustrate the good work that farmers in the region are already doing to conserve natural resources.

• Maintain the very conservation programs that can help producers’ bottom line – while also protecting the very soil, water and habitat we all depend on.

As a reminder, you are guaranteed by law (Title 7, U.S. Code, and CIPSEA, Public Law 107-347) that your individual information will be kept confidential. NASS safeguards the privacy of all responses and publishes only aggregate data, ensuring that no individual operation or producer can be identified by anyone or any other agency.

For more information or questions about the CEAP survey, contact the NASS [STATE] Field Office at (XXX) XXX-XXXX or visit www.nass.usda.gov.

Thank you for your continued support of [STATE] and U.S. agriculture. I or another representative of NASS will reach out to you again shortly.

Sincerely,