WASHINGTON March 5 2008 - Public Printer Robert C. Tapella names Patricia (Trish) Fritz as Associate Chief of Staff for the agency's Strategic Environmental Programs.  Tapella recently announced initiatives to bring more sustainable environmental stewardship to the U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO).  In this position, Fritz will help make those initiatives happen by developing and expanding programs that include recycling, reducing energy consumption, reducing GPO's carbon footprint and providing Federal customers with environmental printing alternatives.  Fritz will also work with industry leaders to create a certificate program for more environmentally responsible paper for use by Federal agencies.  She will advise the Public Printer on ways to move the agency into a facility that has a "green building certification."

"I believe we have an obligation to be good stewards of the resources at GPO.  Trish will do an excellent job in seeing we achieve this goal," said Public Printer Robert C. Tapella. "Having someone like Trish overseeing these initiatives will help GPO move into the first LEED Platinum Printing Plant inAmerica."

Fritz brings extensive Capitol Hill and government relations experience to GPO.  She was a member of a western U.S. Senator's staff.  Fritz served as Director for Federal and State Government Relations for a start-up coalbed natural gas technology company. She worked with Congress, Department of Energy and the Department of Interior to promote more efficient and environmentally sound technologies to enhance coalbed natural gas development. These technologies helped increase gas production efficiency while reducing the environmental impact of excess water.  She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in International Studies and Spanish from the University of Wyoming.

The GPO is the Federal Government's primary centralized resource for gathering, cataloging, producing, providing, authenticating, and preserving published U.S. Government information in all its forms. GPO is responsible for the production and distribution of information products and services for all three Branches of the Federal Government. In addition to publication sales, GPO makes government information available at no cost to the public through GPO Access (www.gpoaccess.gov), and through partnerships with more than 1,250 libraries nationwide participating in the Federal Depository Library Program. For more information, please visit www.gpo.gov.