Wildfire Barriers Survey 1st Cover Letter

Warner College of Natural Resources
Human Dimensions of Natural Resources
Fort Collins, CO 80523
970-491-2360
Main office: 970-491-6591
Fax: 970-491-2255
email: [email protected]

Month XX, 2012
Dear <>,
I am writing to ask for your help with a study being conducted by Colorado State University and the US Forest
Service to understand homeowners’ actions to reduce the potential impacts of wildland fire. As a resident
of the wildland-urban interface in Colorado, you play an important role in reducing the impacts of wildland
fire.
The purpose of this survey is to examine your opinions and behaviors regarding steps you might take to
reduce the risk of wildfire. These are important issues that require serious thought on your part. The
results of this study will be used to inform future management actions regarding wildland fires. Your
opinions can influence those decisions.
We would like to do everything we can to make it easy and enjoyable for you to participate in the study.
If you have access to the Internet and would prefer to take the survey online you can do so by going to the
following web address and entering the password below.
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We realize that some households do not have Internet access. If you do not, we will send a paper
questionnaire to all households we have not heard from in about 2½ weeks. If you would like one sooner,
please contact Katie Lyon by telephone at 970-491-1494.
The questionnaire is being conducted via a secure website and should only take about 30 minutes to
complete. We want to assure you that this questionnaire is voluntary and your responses will be kept private
to the extent permitted by law. The access code is for mailing purposes only. This enables us to check your
name off the mailing list when your completed questionnaire is submitted. This list is then destroyed so that
individual names can never be connected to results in any way. In addition, when we write about this study,
we will write about the combined information we have gathered. No individual’s answers will ever be identified.
If you have any questions about this survey, please call Dr. Jerry Vaske, the study director, by telephone
at 970-491-2360 or by email at [email protected]. If you have any questions about your
rights as a volunteer in this research, contact Janell Barker, Human Research Administrator, at 970-4911655.
This research can only be successful with the generous help of people like you.
Many Thanks,

Jerry J. Vaske, Ph.D.