WASHINGTON, DC—as federal employees, we all have an opportunity to provide feedback to our agency leaders by responding to the Office of Personnel Management Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey. FEVS provides consistent, reliable and actionable information to all levels of government, from front-line managers to governmentwide leadership and program and policy offices.

Last year, the Forest Service participation was 43%. While that number was higher than recent years, less than half of our eligible employees (on board the previous November) shared their perspective of the work environment.

This year, we would like to hear from every eligible employee. Whether you work on a district, a research station or an administrative office, your perspective is important. As of June 6, only 15% of employees had participated. The graph below shows the percentage of people who have taken the survey by region, station and Washington Office staff or deputy area in 2022 and 2023.

Currently, the Work Environment and Performance Office is leading in participation at 37%, followed closely by the Chief Financial Officer (31%) and the Southern Research Station (28%).

Employees who were on board in November 2022 should have received an email invitation from EVAG@opm.gov with the subject line Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey. If you cannot locate your invitation, please send an email to EVAG@opm.gov, and OPM will send you a new invitation.

This year, a technical issue kept many employees from getting the initial invitation from OPM, so please request a new link if you did not receive your invitation. Each link is unique so please do not forward your invitation to another employee.

While we have until June 30, please take 20-30 minutes to complete the survey TODAY. You are allowed to use work time (‘01’ time) to take survey, and all responses are confidential. It takes all of us to build a positive work environment. Thank you for sharing your voice and stepping up to make the Forest Service an even better place to work.

If you have any questions about the survey, please contact please send an email to SM.FS.wepo_dae@usda.gov. FEVS reports for 2022 and prior years are available at FEVS Reports. For custom FEVS reports not available in Box, you may send an email to SM.FS.wepo_dae@usda.gov or request data using our new data request form: FEVS_Survey Data Requests.