New Group To Serve Texas Governmental Employees

Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER), a national alliance of local, state, and federal government employees within natural resource agencies, has opened a Texas field office in Austin. Texas PEER has established a confidential telephone hotline to provide public employees a safe channel to report instances of agency misconduct and a Legal Defense Network to provide free legal assistance to PEER's employee members.

"Employees tell us that Texas needs PEER in the worst way," stated Executive Director Jeff Ruch. "Our Austin office will provide much-needed support to environmental agency workers who increasingly face politically-based, scientifically-flawed decisions."

Scott Royder is heading up PEER's Texas office. "PEER empowers employees who are concerned about pervasive special interest and political influence on agency decision-making," said Royder. For 14 years Scott Royder has served as state conservation director for the Sierra Club's Lone Star Chapter in Austin. Assisting Royder as staff scientist is Dean Keddy-Hector, a former state employee with 20 years experience working on endangered species issues. Until 1996 Keddy-Hector worked for TPWD in the Texas Natural Heritage Program.

Texas PEER will initially concentrate its efforts on organizing and assisting employees of the state's Natural Resource Conservation Commission (TNRCC) and the Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD).

Texas PEER's 24-hour hotline number is (512) 441-4941; the mailing address is P.O. Box 684753, Austin, Texas 78768-4753; and the e-mail address is txpeer@peer.org.