Affiliates are persons and entities that are directly associated with the site. Affiliates may be site owners, site operators, site contacts, consultants (individuals and companies), attorneys, adjoining property owners, LRP interested parties and government contacts other than DNR (city/county officials, IDED, EPA).
An affiliate is a site that you display text or buttons linking to each other's site. The whole point of affiliation is to help your site and your affiliates' site get visitors. The best way to get affiliates is to have a nice, organized, professional site with lots of information and a nice layout. To affiliate with someone, look for an affiliation link or email them if you can't find one.