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Noreen Clough awarded me the unofficial "Red Tape Worm" award for getting a permit to do fish habitat work on Elephant Butte Reservoir. It took three years and a final push by a supporter at the Bureau of Reclamation. But I don't think even she could have foreseen how difficult it can be to take a project from grant writing through permitting and closure. This presentation will briefly describe some of the challenges an organization might face from getting permission from the water manager to jumping through the regulatory hoops. Luckily the grant amounts have increased over the years and it can be worth the effort to run the gauntlet, but it isn't getting easier. It has become clear to me that we could do better as a community sharing resources to help each other through the hard parts. We need to figure out what the best role is for volunteers, non-profits, local, state and Federal agencies. Examples will include latest experiences from the projects at Carlsbad, New Mexico and Cochiti Lake, New Mexico, including having to work on tribal lands.