Tennessee's Bill Frist elected to chair Nature Conservancy's global board

Former U.S. Sen. Bill Frist of Tennessee has been elected to chair The Nature Conservancy's global board, the environmental nonprofit announced Tuesday.

Frist joined the nonprofit's board in 2015 and currently serves as vice-chair. He will begin his three-year term this fall.

The former senator said he hopes to make in-roads with younger constituencies, particularly as young people across the political spectrum tend to value environmental concerns more than older generations.

"One of the things I hope to do is build a much larger constituency, and provide a safe place for people of all political persuasions to come together to appropriately protect our land and air and water and climate," Frist said. "That’s not why I was chosen, but one of my real hopes is to provide a much larger room to have civil, educated, science-based discussions on climate change and on conservation of land while paying attention to the needs of people."

Frist also plans to continue to focus on diversity and equity issues during his three-year term, in addition to growing the nonprofit's policy impact internationally.

Frist, the leader of the Republican Senate caucus prior to U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell, will replace current board chair Frances Ulmer, a former Democratic lieutenant governor of Alaska.

The Nature Conservancy, founded in 1951 and based in Virginia, is an environmental nonprofit with nearly $9 billion in assets, according to 2021 U.S. tax documents. The group’s mission is to “find paths to solve climate change and biodiversity loss,” according to its website.

A lung and heart surgeon, Frist served as Senate Majority Leader from 2003 to 2007. First elected to the U.S. Senate in 1994, he won a second term in 2000 and did not seek reelection in 2006, honoring an early pledge to only serve two terms.

Frist said his work with transplant medicine and immunocompromised patients led to his increased sensitivity to the intersection of environmental issues and health.

“There is a well-established, science-based connection between the physical, mental, and emotional wellbeing of people and time spent in nature. Valuing our health means also valuing healthy ecosystems,” Frist said. “The great minds at TNC work hard each day to cultivate a future in which nature flourishes and people from all walks of life can enjoy happier, healthier, and more fulfilling lives."

Frist has championed environmental issues in recent years. In December, he co-authored an opinion article in The Tennessean calling for conservative solutions to climate change with Benji Backer, founder of the American Conservation Coalition, a “pro-market” environmental nonprofit.

Conservation and environmental groups did not necessarily consider Frist an ally while he served in Congress. The League of Conservation Voters gave Frist a lifetime environmental score of just 7 percent on environmental issues as part of its rating system for members of Congress.

Chris Corley, chair of the Tennessee Chapter of the Sierra Club, praised Frist's chair election, despite Frist’s score.

“I would assume his lower score would be typical of the average Republican legislators at the time,” Corley wrote in an email.

He said he is personally aware of Frist's love of Tennessee's outdoors, including Center Hill Lake in DeKalb County.

"I am sure the good doctor will be a valuable asset in leading the Nature Conservancy’s efforts in protecting our endangered planet.”

Frist said his understanding of conservation and climate issues has significantly evolved since leaving office.

"There’s no question my sensitivities to biodiversity, clean air, clean water and climate change have evolved and hopefully continues to evolve as I both have studied it and spent time with it," Frist said.

Reach Melissa Brown at mabrown@tennessean.com.

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This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Former Sen. Frist of TN elected to chair nonprofit Nature Conservancy