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!

COLLABORATION STORIES Grouse plight unites hunters, ranchers, conservationists   A constellation of collaborative working groups have formed around the West, united by a single purpose: the conservation of the sage grouse. The decline and potential ESA listing of the iconic Western bird have prompted interested parties to come together in an attempt to keep the hammer of the ESA from falling on the sagebrush flats of the interior West.   READ MORE >> IN THE NEWS Grass banks and drought by BILL DEBUYS, RANCHER Among the challenges central to ranching, none is more daunting than drought. A ranching family strives for consistency in its operations; it builds a herd adapted to its country; it sizes the herd to what that country will "normally" carry. But then the weather changes, and the grass fails to grow. When the hard and painful work begins of readjusting herd size, "normal" becomes the punchline of a wry joke.   READ MORE >> COLLABORATION STORIES Grassbanking collaboratives Two grassbanks are helping ranchers and land managers improve range conditions and enhance wildlife habitat. HEART MOUNTAIN PROFILE >> MATADOR RANCH PROFILE >> FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES Funds available for grouse conservation The USDA announced that $5 million is available for special projects to protect and enhance greater sage grouse habitat in the West. Funding will be provided through several NRCS-administered programs, including the Grassland Reserve Program, Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program and Environmental Quality Incentives Program. READ MORE >>

IN THE NEWS New BLM grazing permit rules New regulations issued by the Interior Department will require ranchers to either use the grazing lands they lease from the government or give up their permits so others can use them. READ MORE >>   BLM regs–land manager's response The new BLM factsheet on grazing regulation changes looks much as one would expect after reading the public comments over the last two years. READ MORE >>   Agency staffers concerned about new rules (registration required) Staff members from the USFWS and EPA submitted comments to the BLM critical of the recently adopted grazing regulations, citing potential impacts on wildlife habitat and water quality. READ MORE >> IN THE NEWS Study: Drilling displaces grouse The effect of oil and gas development on imperiled sage grouse is a big question in the Upper Green River area, and a "bigger picture" of populations is needed to make adequate protection recommendations, members of a working group said Wednesday. READ MORE >> CONTACT US 32 South Ewing, Suite 326 Helena, Montana 59601 Phone: (406) 495-1069   The Red Lodge Clearinghouse is a program of the Liz Claiborne Art Ortenberg Foundation.

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