The information we collect from residents of the Eastern Sierra will inform the development of a Community Needs and Values Assessment that will elevate community perspectives on land stewardship and how to maintain resilient landscapes and communities in the region. All the information we collect is confidential. We do not disclose the names of participants or link their information to any public source. The results will be synthesized in a report that will go through a public review and comment process next year.

Sign up for our email list if you would like to stay informed of the results of this work or if you would like to review the report when it is available. Comments will be most welcome on our draft assessment. Additional research results will be published in the years ahead and we will share this with our email list to keep you apprised of anything that is released publicly.

The University of California Office of the President is funding this work as part of the Climate Action Research Initiative (Grant No. R02CP7150). Funding supports research being conducted by UC Berkeley and Stanford University as well as the work of community partners. We strive to ensure funding stays local as much as possible to support Eastern Sierra communities. We partnered with community organizations and local institutions to develop the research plan, and are guided by a steering committee composed of local residents. This ensures the approach and products from this research will benefit communities of the Eastern Sierra to the greatest extent possible.

The larger project this survey is associated with is the Pinyon Community Climate Action Project (see: http://pinyonjuniper.org/). We decided to broaden the focus of our community engagement to focus on landscapes across the region and not just forests. The social science and community engagement effort is being led by Stanford University in partnership with community organizations. Field staff in summer 2024 are students from colleges and universities across California. Many of the researchers on our team have experience working in the region or have been residents of the Eastern Sierra.

If you have further questions, comments, concerns or complaints, please contact the Protocol Director, Dr. Paul Berne Burow, at pburow@stanford.edu or at (650)-382-4033.

Independent Contact: If you are not satisfied with how this study is being conducted, or if you have any concerns, complaints, or general questions about the research or your rights as a participant, please contact the Stanford Institutional Review Board (IRB) to speak to someone independent of the research team at (650)-723-2480 or toll free at 1-866-680-2906, or email at irbnonmed@stanford.edu. You can also write to the Stanford IRB, Stanford University, 1705 El Camino Real, Palo Alto, CA 94306. The Protocol ID# is 68788.