Six local environmental groups will establish closer relationships among themselves, a network of support for each other, when the Clinton County Green Alliance is formed this week.

The Green Alliance will not be a new organization. Rather, it will involve a structured, periodic meeting of the environmental groups in the county to share efforts and to strategize, said Clinton County Regional Planning Commission Executive Director Chris Schock.

The first official gathering will be Thursday.

The Clinton County Regional Planning Commission is backing the alliance. The planning commission office will offer participating green groups assistance with building a Web presence on a combined site to be maintained by the planning commission and Energize Clinton County, one of the local green groups. The commission also will provide the groups postage, copying, help with fundraising and some supplies, all free of charge.

The groups planning to participate in the alliance are Energize Clinton County, StreamKeepers, Lytle Creek League of Conservators, Clinton County Open Lands, No Child Left Indoors and the Clinton County Environmental Protection Association.

One advantage to keeping in regular touch, said Schock, is the prospect of getting help when one group has an issue with something that another group has an expertise in.

The alliance’s first project will be the shared Web site.

The Web site will enable the groups to post announcements, events and photographs, while hopefully fostering a dialogue among the groups, said Energize Clinton County co-founder Mark Rembert. Each group will have a profile of itself on the site.

The Web site’s main element, however, may be a blog format — a forum where the organizations can place meeting minutes, post comments on articles of interest and have a space to invite “a running dialogue,” Rembert said.

With formation of the alliance, it will help these “small, citizen-driven organizations” have a Web capacity which otherwise they might not be able to afford, said Schock.

Heretofore, some of the groups have operated in almost a vacuum, feels Schock.