How We Work

The first step

Call us. We'll ask you some simple questions about your situation (and treat these conversations as confidential.) Then we'll help you figure out the best way to proceed. Sometimes, we may be able to help directly. We can also point you to other resources and experts that might help.

What kind of help can we offer?

Free assistance

Case consultations - We can help you think about your situation and how third-party mediation/facilitation might work. Call or email a program manager who works on issues like yours.
Help finding an experienced mediator/facilitator - Contact us for referrals to the Native Network or Roster of ECR Practitioners. You can also search the roster directly.

Fee-for-service

Our services range from extensive involvement in the entire process to more targeted assistance.

We offer a full range of assessment, mediation, facilitation services. Complete list of services
We can help you:
- bring people together
- develop a plan to resolve the issues
- select a contracted mediator/facilitator
- handle project oversight
- in many other ways

Call (520) 901-8501 or email a program manager who works on issues like yours.

We offer dynamic training workshops for government managers and other stakeholders grappling with issues related to the environment, natural resources or public lands. Choose a generalized training or one tailored specifically to your issues and organization.

How do you connect with us? Call (520) 901-8501 or email us. Check out our contact list.

“ There is a time in the life of every problem when it is big enough to see, yet small enough to solve. ”

Michael O. Leavitt

Did you know...?

The U.S. Institute is charged to work on environmental conflicts where there is a federal agency involved. That means we cannot work on local land use issues, for example, unless they involve a federal agency of the U.S. government.

Other federal agencies are authorized to use and to pay for our services. Non-federal public and private entities can also pay for our services. By law we are required to charge for some of our services. Congress created the U.S. Institute for Environmental Conflict Resolution as a fee-for-service organization. Annual appropriations do not cover all our operating expenses.

P.L. 105-156 (Environmental Policy and Conflict Resolution Act of 1998)

P.L. 108-160 (Environmental Policy and Conflict Resolution Advancement Act of 2003) reauthorization for another 5 years

There are frequently other federal funding sources for cases that use our services and we can suggest some sources for federal and non-federal support that might be helpful.

US Penny Each year less than 1¢ of each taxpayer’s total tax bill goes to fund the U.S. Institute for Environmental Conflict Resolution. (The Institute gets about $2 million in funding annually from the U.S. Congress and earns around $750,000 in project fees to help cover operating expenses.)