Juniper Group Field Survey Guide

A How-To-Do-It Guide

Forest Survey Form

Out in the Forest Photo by Asante Riverwind And Down in the Dirt, Soils are Important, Too!
Photo by Asante RiverwindUse our Forest Survey Form to provide documentation of the field conditions related to any area that concerns you. This can be related to a government project or plan, or just be a situation that you see and feel needs attention from the Sierra Club or other organizations. Although the form is titled "Forest Survey Form", it can also be used for non-forest documentation, since much of the documentation is the same.

Do Some Homework

Before you start, do some homework on the site or situation.  If your concern is related to a Federal office action, look at the appropriate Federal Areas page on this web site to see what we already know about the project. If the project is listed, many of them will have a link to a Federal website page that will give you much more information about the project, such as a Scoping Statement and maps of the project. Many of these are quite good and detailed. The project article may also have a link to a Comment or Appeal of the project that has already been filed by the Sierra Club and our collaborative environmental organizations. If the project is not listed on our web pages, do two more things. Look at the appropriate US Forest Service or Bureau of Land Management (BLM) web page under the appropriate area office, such as Deschutes National Forest or the BLM Prineville District Office, then look for a page called "Projects and Plans", or a similar title. This may lead you to more information about the project. Also look at our Comments and Appeals page to see if the Sierra Club has commented on the project in the past.

Talk To Our Forest Organizer

If you have questions or want some experienced guidance about how to best document the field conditions you see, call or email our Eastern Forest Organizer, Asante Riverwind. He is an encyclopedia of information and experience, and will be happy to answer your questions and provide advice.

Take Pictures

Pictures are worth many thousands of words, and this is especially true when it comes to appealing a project, either in or out of court. You need to document when and where you took the pictures.

Detailed Notes

Take as notes as detailed as you can with your knowledge of forest and desert life. The Forest Survey Form provides a guideline for doing this, but don't hesitate to expand on the form by using attachment pages clearly marked as relating to the form.

How to Submit Your Survey

Contact Asante Riverwind and arrange a way to submit your documentation. This can be by phone, email, postal mail, or a personal meeting.

What We Will Do

Using your information, a number of things may happen. If the issue is minor, it could result in a call to the Forest Ranger or BLM office to see if the situation can be corrected informally. If more serious, Asante or our other volunteers may visit the site with you to get more information. This could result in our submitting formal comments on the project to the federal office (see our Comments and Appeals page for examples). In very serious situations, when the project proceeds without our concerns being addressed, an appeal and/or request for a judicial review of the project may be filed in Federal Court.