NCEDR has embarked upon a study of decision-making processes used in developing conservation plans under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). These plans--habitat conservation plans (HCPs), safe harbor agreements, and Non-section 10 conservation agreements--are a relatively new and novel collaborative approach to natural-resource decision making.

• Project Overview
• Project article—"Habitat Conservation Planning: Current Processes and Tomorrow's Challenges" (a pdf file) by D. Ostermeier, D. Bidwell, and S. Schexnayder. (NOTE: This research article was published in Environmental Practice: Journal of the National Association of Environmental Professionals, Vol. 2, No. 2, June 2000. It is reproduced here with the permission of Oxford University Press.)

The book, Tools to Aid Environmental Decision Making, will be available in mid-December through Springer-Verlag. It is unique in identifying and presenting tools to environmental decision-makers to help them improve the quality and clarity of this vital process. The tools described in this book range from software to policy approaches, and from environmental databases to focus groups. Tools to Aid Environmental Decision Making will be of value to decision makers and their staffs, environmental managers, and students in environmental risk, policy, economics and law.