Welcome to The Collaboration Site. Engineered as a full support site for collaborative groups committed to resolving resource use conflicts throughout the interior west.	We'll help you get started and keep going! Direct you to funding sources! Supply the latest news affecting your work! Collaboration at work - stories from the field! Update you on legislation and regulations!

Photo courtesy of The Peregrine Fund IN THE NEWS ESA–From Noble Intent to Politicized Strategy   BY BILL BURNHAM, THE PEREGRINE FUND There is no organization that believes more strongly in saving species and our natural world than The Peregrine Fund. Our record proves it. Now we, as others, recognize that the ESA has too often become a legal strategy in an ongoing battle over land use.   READ MORE >> IN THE NEWS Photo courtesy of the Bighorn Institute Endangered Species Act Faces New Challenges   BY FELICITY BARRINGER, NEW YORK TIMES More than three decades after the Endangered Species Act gave the federal government tools and a mandate to protect animals, insects and plants threatened with extinction, the landmark law is facing the most intense efforts ever by the White House, Congress, landowners and industry to limit its reach.   SEE FULL STORY >> COLLABORATION STORIES Collaboration and the ESA Creative collaborations are demonstrating ways to protect species without endangering the livelihoods of Westerners. For example, the The Beatty Habitat Committee is developing a greenbelt to enhance tourism and protect the Amargosa toad. ENDANGERED SPECIES READING ROOM >> IN THE NEWS ESA under fire from two directions Nobody's very happy with the Endangered Species Act–arguably the most powerful of all environmental protection laws. Scientists and activists say it fails to protect hundreds of "candidate" species headed for extinction because agencies haven't been able to get to them yet for lack of resources or political support. Property rights advocates say the law unfairly harms farmers, ranchers, and developers who host what some deride as an inconsequential bug or weed. SEE FULL STORY >>

LEGISLATION & REGULATIONS No surprises policy The "no surprises" policy and "incidental take" permits have been in the news recently, but what do they mean to endangered species protection? READ MORE >> WAYS & MEANS ESA Section 10(j) What is a "nonessential experimental population" and how can the reduced protections authorized under this section actually help a species to recover? READ MORE >> CONTACT US Ross Johnson 32 South Ewing, Suite 326 Helena, Montana 59601 Phone: (406) 495-1069 Toll Free: (888) 495-0757 Fax: (406) 495-1074   The Red Lodge Clearinghouse is a program of the Liz Claiborne Art Ortenberg Foundation.

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