FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - June 27, 1996

Lowry names Billy Frank to Evergreen State College Board of Trustees

OLYMPIA - Gov. Mike Lowry today named Bill Frank, Jr. to a position on The Evergreen State College Board of Trustees. Frank is a gill net fisherman and chairman of the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission.

"Billy Frank has had ties to Evergreen since the early '70s, and has been dedicated to the state for much longer than that," Lowry said. "His lifelong experience fighting for natural resources management and negotiating public policy will be a valuable asset to the board."

Frank, 65, has been the key representative for 20 Western Washington Indian tribes on national and international fisheries issues since 1981. He also was fisheries manager for the Nisqually Indian Tribe from 1975 to 1988. He became involved with Evergreen College when former President Dan Evans invited him to lecture at the school. Frank was involved in the establishment of the Evergreen Longhouse, a campus facility designed like a traditional longhouse that serves as a cultural beacon as well as a community gathering place.

Frank is a commissioner to the State Centennial Commission, an advisor to the Salmon Advisory Panel of the Pacific Fisheries Management Council, and serves on the Governor's 2010 Environmental Protection Advisory Committee. He replaces Edward Kelly, who passed away in March. Frank will serve a six-year term on the seven-member board.

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For more information, contact the Governor's Communications Office at 360-753-6790.