Environmental center receives $4.25 million

The event, held at the Temple of Music and Art, 330 S. Scott Ave, celebrated the creation of the Institute for En-vironmental Conflict Resolution, which will be used to mediate environmental disputes throughout the country. Last night, Congress approved the $4.25 million necessary to run the center its first year.

"We hope this becomes a place where federal and private agencies use this center to settle disputes," U.S. Rep. Jim Kolbe said yesterday. "There has never been an honest broker for environmental conflict resolution."

The institute, headquartered in Tucson, will exist under the umbrella of the Morris K. Udall Foundation.

The Udall Foundation was established in 1992 by the U.S. Congress to honor former Rep. Morris K. Udall, who worked for environmental protection and American Indian public policy. The foundation also helps fund the on-campus Morris K. Udall Center, which gives scholarships to students interested in environmental and American Indian public policy.

Although University of Arizona President Peter Likins said he is optimistic about the institute's potential, there is still a lot of work to be done.

"In celebrating the birth of an institution we must not fail to recognize that before we can celebrate success we have a lot of work to do," Likins said. "It means that the UA has the opportunity to associate with a major force in environmental conflict resolution."

Kolbe, a Republican, said that before the institute was created, legal action was the sole option for settling environmental disputes.

The institute sprouted from the Environmental Policy and Conflict Resolution Act of 1998. It was created to provide a federally funded neutral body that helps resolve environmental, natural resource and land-related disputes.

The institute, expected to employ 15 to 20 people, will mediate disputes outside of a court room and help train federal officials.

Those who use the institute will not have to file lawsuits to resolve environmental conflicts. About 500 environmental lawsuits each year are filed in federal courts.

Earlier this year, U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., initiated the legislation that created the institute.

Kolbe, who worked with McCain to secure the funding, said Udall's legacy "inspired" them to win federal money.

"Somebody can give birth to a baby but somebody had better pay the bills," Kolbe said.

If the legislation had not honored Udall, it may not have passed, said U.S. Rep. Ed Pastor, who lent his aid to the bill.

"Anyone else and we might have had a more difficult time," said Pastor, a Democrat. "This, you have to know, was the last bill that was passed in the last session (of Congress)."

John Miller, director of the Tucson Institute for Sustainable Communities, said he is excited about creating the institution.

"Now we can talk about solutions in Tucson, not just problems," said Miller, a private environmental consultant.

By adding the institute, the foundation will be able to act on environmental disputes in addition to funding education programs, said Terry Bracy, chairman of the foundation's board of trustees.

"It's not hard to see 8 to 10 years from now where this (the institute) will be a $30- to $40 million operation," Bracy said.

Michael Lafleur can be reached via e-mail at Michael.Lafleur@wildcat.arizona.edu.