The National Forest Foundation and the Sonoran Institute, working in partnership with the Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Forest Service, and others, offer the Western Collaboration Assistance Network (WestCAN). WestCAN promotes collaborative approaches to natural resource management conflicts by providing a range of expertise to help collaborative efforts get started, work through challenging issues, and demonstrate progress. Specifically, WestCAN provides:

• Technical assistance (help in developing agreements or contracts, nonprofit organizational development, for example);
• Links to peer coaches (to provide suggestions and expertise on a short-term basis) and mentors (longer-term and more in-depth help in working through a collaborative process);
• Access to the WestCAN Resource Library providing ready access to field tested technical resources, best practices, and lessons learned about working collaboratively on natural resource issues.

To access the WestCAN network, contact Karen DiBari, WestCAN Coordinator, at 1-866-773-4633 x 13 or 406-542-2805, and at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it