Applying the Built Environment Image Guide to Administrative Sites, page 2

Portraying the Forest Service Image—Applying the Built Environment Image Guide to Administrative Sites

Introduction

The built environment constructed and maintained by the Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, should reflect the values advocated by the agency. To "walk the talk," the agency must:

Demonstrate commitment to land stewardship by building in harmony with and complimentary to the natural environment (figure 1) using techniques, materials, and equipment that are sustainable over time.
Demonstrate commitment to customers by using esthetic design principles applied in a way that reflect local culture and history.

Photo of a building surrounded by red rock, red soil, and a few trees. A line of people are entering the building.
Figure 1—The Red Canyon Visitor Center in the Powell Ranger
District of the Dixie National Forest in the Intermountain Region
fits its site well. The colors of the building materials, generous use of
native rock for both the building and landscaping, and careful
placement of the structure among existing pine trees ensure
that the structure looks at home in the red rock canyon environment.

The Built Environment Image Guide (BEIG) for the National Forests and Grasslands was developed to help agency designers and decisionmakers:

Improve the Forest Service image
Better serve customers
Produce transportation systems, sites, and structures that embody sustainability and portray a Forest Service image based on the local ecological, cultural, and economic context.

By following the BEIG principles whenever sites or structures are built or modified, the Forest Service's built environment will be changed over time. The pool of Forest Service structures will become more cost effective and respectful of the cultural and natural environment, and will be more easily identifiable by the public as distinctly Forest Service.

This report explains how to apply the BEIG to administrative site improvement and maintenance projects. Administrative sites include offices, warehouses, crew quarters, homes, utilities, and all other facilities that enable Forest Service employees to do their work. The basic principles of the BEIG are not explained in this report. An electronic version of the BEIG, a PowerPoint orientation to the BEIG, and Web-based BEIG training are available at: http://fsweb.wo.fs.fed.us/eng/facilities/beig.htm. All links that begin with http://fsweb are on the Forest Service's internal computer network, not the Internet.

Readers who are not familiar with the BEIG are encouraged to take advantage of these electronic resources and other training that is available.