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Former APA And DEC Commissioner Robert Flacke Has Died

Robert Flacke
Photo provided
Robert Flacke

Robert Flacke, the only person to serve as chairman of the Adirondack Park Agency and as Commissioner of the New York state Department of Environmental Conservation, died over the weekend.
Former DEC Commissioner Robert Flacke was 85 when he died at his home in Lake George. His publicist and family spokesman Mark Behan said Flacke died Saturday after a period of declining health.

Flacke was a pillar of the Lake George community long before he was appointed to state positions. He became president of Fort William Henry in 1958 and is credited with restoring it to a popular tourist attraction.  Current Mayor Robert Blais says Flacke was supervisor of the Town of Lake George when he first became mayor of the village in the 1970’s.   “We did a lot together. Prior to myself and Bob Flacke taking over I’m not even certain the town and village spoke to each other. But he was a very special person. He had a lot of connections in Albany with his family and by marriage. And Bob of course became the DEC commissioner for a time and then he was also chairman of the Adirondack Park Agency. He was down to earth, friendly, easy to get along with and of course he made the Fort William Henry property one of the most successful business ventures in Lake George.”

Robert Flacke was appointed chairman of the Adirondack Park Agency in 1975 and in 1979 Commissioner of the state Department of Environmental Conservation.  Adirondack Wild: Friends of Forest Preserve Partner David Gibson says Flacke had an imposing presence at both agencies.  “He influenced many things that improved the Park’s environment and the state’s environment. He respected local government and believed they had a voice but he also knew that the state had a very important role to play in the Adirondack Park.”

As head of the DEC, Flacke oversaw a state management plan for the 1980 Lake Placid Winter Olympics and pressed for creation of ORDA – the Olympic Regional Development Authority.
Adirondack Mountain Club Executive Director Neil Woodworth says Flacke is credited with saving the 1980 Winter Olympics.  “It could have easily been a disaster. He was proactive. There was uncharacteristically heavy snows that made Route 73 very difficult to negotiate and he did a great job insuring that people could get in and out of the 1980 Olympics just because he moved aggressively and came up with a plan quickly and put it into place quickly.”

Woodworth says he didn’t know Robert Flacke until Flacke was appointed by then-Governor Mario Cuomo to the Commission on the Adirondacks in the Twenty-First Century.  “He’s best known for his minority report which he issued before the main report. Many people thought he sandbagged the Commission on the Twenty-First Century by issuing that minority report two weeks before the main report was to be issued. The final report of the Commission wasn’t perfect but it had a lot of good recommendations and the Flacke Report I think turned a lot of people against the whole report of the full commission and I think it persuaded Governor (Mario) Cuomo that the main report of the commission was not something that he was going to use as his platform for the Adirondacks.”

Gibson notes that Flacke’s influence went beyond business, tourism and the environment.  “He and Paul Schaefer had a unique relationship in Lake George.  Paul Schaefer was not only an environmentalist and a wilderness preservationist but he was a historic preservationist. And the former Warren County Courthouse which dates back many centuries now was going to be destroyed. Before the historic preservation era. And Paul got Bob to agree to delay the wrecking ball until Paul could raise enough money to try to restore that courthouse which is now a museum. That’s a very important aspect of their relationship was historic preservation.”

A celebration of Robert Flacke’s life is scheduled at the Fort William Henry Hotel in Lake George following his funeral services on Saturday.