House Speaker Joe Hackney appointed former state marine fisheries director Preston Pate to the board of the Clean Water Management Trust Fund Friday.

Pate served as director of the Division of Marine Fisheries from 1997-2007. Before that he was assistant director of the state Division of Coastal Management. 

He replaces Southport businessman Robert Howard, who served on the board since 1996 and as chairman from 2001 to 2006. Howard's tenure as chair was marked by division on the board and the resignation of the organization's highly regarded director, Bill Holman. Other board members and Holman clashed with Howard over his advocacy for grants to wastewater projects in Southport and Brunswick County.

Hackney praised both Howard's and Pate's service to the state.

The trust fund provides grants to local governments, state agencies and conservation non-profits to buy land and take other steps to resolve water pollution problems. Founded in 1996, the fund has awarded nearly $951 million to more than 1,300 projects.