PR Firms Don't Grow on Trees

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The U.S. Forest Service "is weighing replacement of 100 of its public information staff with private public relations firms," according to documents obtained by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility. The move is in response to "pressure from the Bush White House to put more federal jobs out to bid by private contractors in order to 'increase the cost-effectiveness of Forest Service work.'" By June 30, the agency will review 100 of its 700 public affairs, communications and graphics positions, to determine whether they should be outsourced. PEER's Jeff Ruch warned, "Civil servants are under a legal obligation to tell the public the truth while PR firms specialize in shading it." Last year, the Forest Service's PR contract with OneWorld Communications was criticized for, among other things, brochures deemed "very misleading" by environmental groups that promoted increased logging in the Sierra Nevada.