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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 23, 2004

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 http://www.centrists.org/

Centrists.Org Opens Montana Branch Office

(December 21, 2004 - Washington, D.C.) - Nationwide interest in the Western US spurred Centrists.Org to expand its think tank operations beyond Capitol Hill.  Centrists.Org opened a research office in Sheridan, Montana in November 2004 to study and develop positions on natural resource and environmental issues in the West (See Photo 1).

Photo 1. The Centrists.Org office is located in the heart of the Ruby Valley where people, wildlife, fisheries, open space, agriculture, and natural resource extraction have coexisted for over a century. Discovery of the valley by outside interests may soon threaten a way life unless a balance between competing interests can be struck.

"Four issues dominate the West.  They are development in West, public lands management, natural resources, and water," says Scott Payne, Director of the Centrists.Org Energy and Environmental Policy Project. "These are national issues that we will work on from the Centrists.Org Montana office to propose bipartisan solutions that will benefit the West and, ultimately, the nation as a whole."

"The goal of our presence in Montana is to ensure that Centrists.Org is front and center on regional research projects," says Payne. "Our work will be aimed at finding a common ground and developing practical solutions to the problems traditionally surrounding natural resource and environmental policy development in the West."

"We are committed to creating original energy and environmental policy development that supports sustainable development, bipartisan decision making, fairness, and citizen / corporate responsibility in the West."

Meanwhile, the Western US is divided into two sides sparking debate on multiple issues where environmentalists and corporations/developers seldom see eye to eye. Example hot topics include loss of open space, competing water interests, and natural resource extraction. Local, state, and national decision-makers are split on how to best manage public lands, water, and natural resources. Environmental research and innovative policy development are needed to bring stakeholders together, conserve natural resources, and encourage sustainable economic development.

"Bringing State and local conservation ideas to Capital Hill, as well as ideas for improved collaboration will be the primary goal of the Montana Centrists.Org research office," Payne said. "We need new ideas and recommendations that protect the environment, yet the policy should not discourage sustainable economic develop."

The new office will be the focal point for conducting the research and policy development that bridges these gaps.

Centrists.Org is developing partnerships to expand its research capabilities. One potential partner is the University of Montana Center for Riverine Science and Stream Re-Naturalization (CRSSR), an interdisciplinary research group advancing our knowledge of natural stream function and developing methods and procedures to mitigate impacted stream systems. The CRSSR touts 31 research scientists and state-of-the-art research facilities at the University of Montana.

"We are excited about the potential opportunity to collaborate with Centrists.Org," says Dr. William Woessner, Director of CRSSR.

Dr. Woessner and Scott Payne have worked together on multiple research projects over the last 20 years related to natural resources, surface water, and groundwater. They are currently developing ideas on how the two organizations can best work together on research and policy development.

"With CRSSR and Centrists.Org working together on research projects, we have the horsepower to tackle the most challenging environmental issues and policy development facing the West," according to Scott Payne. "I hope we can target the Upper Clark Fork River Basin as a watershed scale research project for the organizations."

The Upper Clark Fork River Basin is located between Butte and Missoula, Montana. The 3,000 square mile basin is an ideal research area for studying development in the West, public land policy, natural resource conservation, and a variety of water research topics. Centrists.Org is developing partnerships with area organizations to collaborate on a host of research topics and policy development in the basin and other watersheds.

To learn more about CRSSR visit their website.

Centrists.Org also is seeking partnerships with other western organizations and entities to collaborate on research project and develop balanced, responsible, and bipartisan policy positions. As these partnerships are established, Centrists.Org will announce these new alliances.

Ed Lorenzen, the new Centrists.Org Executive Director is looking forward to working with Scott and the other experts associated with the Montana office.  "I am excited about the opening of the Centrists.org office in Montana.  Issues regarding the environment and natural resources in the west produce the same polarization that we face in Washington.  The Centrists.Org Montana office will fill a much needed niche, working to find common sense centrist solutions to these issues in the West and bring them back to the policy debates in Washington, D.C.," Lorenzen said.

The Centrists.Org Montana Office is located at:

Centrists.Org is a non-partisan, non-profit, organization formed under section 501(c)(3) of the tax code, and dedicated to public education on vital public policy matters. Contributions to Centrists.Org are tax deductible.

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