diff --git a/lib/tasks/surveyor_tasks.rake b/lib/tasks/surveyor_tasks.rake
index 6365cd48..8aa58977 100644
--- a/lib/tasks/surveyor_tasks.rake
+++ b/lib/tasks/surveyor_tasks.rake
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ namespace :surveyor do
   
   task :default => [:generate_fixtures, :load_fixtures]
   
-  desc "generate survey fixtures from survey file"
+  desc "generate survey fixtures from survey file (specify FIXTURES=surveys/your_survey.rb"
   task :generate_fixtures => :environment do
     require File.join(File.dirname(__FILE__), "../../script/surveyor/parser")
     raise "USAGE: file name required e.g. 'FILE=surveys/kitchen_sink_survey.rb'" if ENV["FILE"].blank?
@@ -14,11 +14,11 @@ namespace :surveyor do
     SurveyParser::Parser.parse(File.join(RAILS_ROOT, ENV["FILE"]))
   end
 
-  desc "load survey fixtures"
+  desc "load survey fixtures (optional FIXTURES=surveys/foo/fixtures)"
   task :load_fixtures => :environment do
     require 'active_record/fixtures'
     require 'fixtures_extensions' unless ENV["APPEND"].blank?
-    raise "USAGE: fixtures directory required e.g. 'FIXTURES=surveys/fixtures'" if ENV["FIXTURES"].blank?
+    ENV["FIXTURES"] ||= "surveys/fixtures"
     ActiveRecord::Base.establish_connection(Rails.env)
 
     fixture_dir = File.join(RAILS_ROOT, ENV["FIXTURES"])