Initial Contact

USDA Forest Service OMB 0596-0240

EXP. ##/##/20##

Appendix 1 – Census Protocol Requesting Contact Information for Phase 1 of the STEW-MAP Information Collection

Target Respondents: large stewardship organizations, environmental coalition or umbrella groups, and local government agencies.

Paperwork Reduction Act Statement

According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, an agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to a collection of information unless it displays a valid OMB control number. The valid OMB control number for this information collection is 0596-0240. This information will be used to create an assessment of environmental stewardship activities in this community. The time required to complete this information collection is estimated to average 15 minutes per response, including the time for locating and sharing pertinent contact lists with us.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in all its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, gender, religion, age, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, and marital or family status. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for communication of program information (Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.) should contact USDA’s TARGET Center at 202-720-2600 (voice and TDD).

To file a complaint of discrimination, write USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20250-9410 or call (800) 795-3272 (voice) or (202) 720-6382 (TDD). USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.

Script:

Hello, I am contacting you on behalf of the STEW-MAP project which is assessing environmental stewardship work in this region.

[At this point, we will convey the gist of the PRA Statement and USDA Discrimination Statement above. We will offer a written version of both if requested.]

We are compiling a contact list of stewardship groups and organizations. We will only use this information to contact stewardship groups to participate in the TEW-MAP survey. Any format that is easiest for you will work for us (for example, fax, hard copy, digital file).

Would you please share your list of local stewardship group contacts for us to use as part of the STEW-MAP project?

Thank you for helping us with this project.

[Most people contacted for this information will already know about STEW-MAP from past conversations and/or may be partners on the project. However, if the person should ask for more information about STEW-MAP before answering the question about sharing their contact lists, we will use the following script:]

STEW-MAP Background

As you know, civic environmental stewards across the United States are involved in activities like planting trees, organizing community gardens, offering classes, leading conservation efforts, monitoring plants and animals, and cleaning up nearby parks or natural areas. In urban areas, effective management of parks, public forests, natural areas, parkways, and other public open spaces increasingly relies on the work of civic environmental stewardship groups and coalitions.

At present, no natural resource agency or organization is collecting and sharing comprehensive environmental stewardship data at the local level. STEW-MAP (the Stewardship Mapping and Assessment Project) aims to fill this gap. There are three phases to STEW-MAP:

• Phase One is a census of stewardship groups in the target city or region – essentially putting together a master list of known stewardship groups. That is what we are asking for from you.

• Phase Two is a survey which will be distributed to all of the organizations identified in Phase One to collect information about what they work on, how their group is structured, where they work, and what other groups they collaborate with.

• Phase Three is follow-up interviews with key longstanding organizations identified during Phase Two to collect more detailed information about their stewardship histories and experiences.

The information collected via STEW-MAP will help natural resource decision makers, land managers, and stewards themselves understand the extent and distribution of local civic environmental stewardship across a city or metropolitan region. This information can be used to guide local resource allocation and policies regarding care of forests and other natural resources.

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