The mediation process is a noncompulsory procedure in which an impartial, neutral party is invited or accepted by disputants to help them identify issues of mutual concern and design solutions to these issues which are acceptable to both. A mediator is a catalyst, an educator, a translator, an expander of the resources available to the parties, a bearer of bad news, an agent of reality, and a scapegoat. Structuring the agenda for discussion and moving the parties toward agreement comprise an integral part of the mediator's effort toward a resolution. Contrary to Susskind's suggestion, the mediator actually gains strength -- 'clout' -- precisely because of a basic commitment to a posture of neutrality. Susskind's environmental mediator or 'mediator with clout' assumes an intervention posture that differs importantly from that of the traditional mediator. Thirty-eight footnotes are provided.