Applying the Built Environment Image Guide to Administrative Sites, page 4

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

What is the Forest Service Image?

Most people base the majority of what they believe about a place, thing, or person on the information their eyes convey to their brains. If they didn't, automobile manufacturers wouldn't spend incredible sums on the exterior design of vehicles. They would concentrate instead on comfort, efficiency, and safety—the vehicle's appearance would simply reflect its function. We all know that's not likely to happen! The Forest Service can also benefit by portraying an appropriate image.

Forest Service facilities should project an image that speaks strongly to visitors and cooperators about the values and overall quality of the agency. The basic themes should be:

We are the Forest Service. Our agency is distinct from other agencies.
We care about the land. We value special places and protect natural settings, and we show it by minimizing the impact our structures have on existing ecosystems and by using sustainable building practices.
We care about people. We use universal design principles so that all our employees and visitors have an equal opportunity to participate.
We offer quality experiences.
Our facilities will stand the test of time.

The United States is a vast country and the character of its national forests and grasslands varies from tropical to glaciated, from rainforest to desert, from urban fringe to wilderness. To convey an appropriate Forest Service image, all of our structures must portray the basic themes while differing to reflect and respond to their surroundings (figure 2).

Photo of a large building with mountains in the background. There is a sign in the foreground that reads "Detroit Ranger Station, Willamette National Forest.
Figure 2—The Detroit Ranger District office in the Willamette National
Forest of the Pacific Northwest Region clearly conveys a quality Forest Service
image that looks at home in the Cascade Mountain foothills. The use of
heavy timbers, stone, and an "industrial" building shape express the character of
the still-forming landscape of the North Pacific province.

This report explains how the overall Forest Service image can be incorporated into the design of facilities on Forest Service administrative sites from Alaska to Puerto Rico, Hawaii to Maine.