By Gwendolyn Craig
Barbara Rice, a Saranac Lake native and the first woman chair of the Franklin County Legislature is the next Adirondack Park Agency executive director, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced on Wednesday.
She will lead the 48-person agency charged with protecting public and private lands in the 6-million acre park. In a statement to the Adirondack Explorer, Hochul called Rice’s appointment a way to “further advance the long-term public and private land use that will preserve this gem for years to come.”
Current APA Executive Director Theresa (Terry) DeFranco Martino announced her retirement on Jan. 14 and is expected to hold the top post until the beginning of February. The Adirondack Explorer left a message for Rice for comment at her family furniture business in Saranac Lake.
Rice has deep roots in the Adirondack Park, graduating from Saranac Lake High School. She is a third-generation of her family to operate Rice Furniture in the village a few miles from APA headquarters in Ray Brook. The Democrat has served as a Saranac Lake trustee, Harrietstown Board of Assessment and Review member and Franklin County legislator.
In 2016, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo appointed Rice as an APA commissioner. She held the post through 2018.
“Barbara Rice is dedicated to the North Country having had a distinguished career in local government and her previous role as an APA Commissioner will serve her well in protecting this vital resource, and she will excel in her new role as Executive Director of the Adirondack Park Agency,” Hochul said.
“She’s the best,” said Karen Feldman, former APA chair, who served with Rice. “She’s smart. She’s got this great attitude. She knows the issues. She’s got all the attributes.” Feldman said Rice is an excellent successor to Martino and she would be well-received among agency staff.
Feldman said with recently named Chairman John Ernst, incoming deputy director of planning Megan Phillips and Rice, the APA will have a strong team. “They’re putting some teeth in the APA,” she said.
In 2017, Rice became the first woman chair of the Franklin County Legislature. In 2018, Cuomo appointed her as his administration’s assistant secretary for economic development. She has maintained that role under the Hochul Administration, working on expanding broadband coverage and cell phone service across the state. Records show in 2020 she made $127,500.
Pete Nelson, co-founder of Adirondack Wilderness Advocates, said Rice is a good choice for APA executive director. Other colleagues and groups, he said, would rather have someone with environmental experience leading the agency charged with protecting public and private lands in the park.
John Sheehan, communications director for the Adirondack Council, said he did not recall the environmental advocacy group having any major disagreements with Rice during her APA tenure.
“I think if we had any concern in this case it would be for the fact that her background is mainly economic development, even though she’s familiar with the park agency,” Sheehan said. “We have some concerns about how well it’s been doing its job protecting the environment, and I think we were hoping for strong environmental credentials in that position.”
Peter Bauer, executive director of Protect the Adirondacks, also said he would have preferred the new APA director to have environmental expertise, but added he was “heartened” over Rice’s appointment. Bauer said his organization hopes she “will mark a new beginning for the APA,” with greater transparency.
While a county legislator, Rice worked to reform ethics in Franklin County government.
Nelson said the APA needs to be rededicated to its mission of protecting forest preserve, but he doesn’t see Rice’s potential appointment as a negative.
“Good executive leadership is important,” Nelson said. “The larger question of the APA’s direction resides with its oversight and the board and the chair of the board.”
Jerry Delaney, executive director of the Adirondack Park Local Government Review Board, offered a favorable view of Rice. There are many strains on the agency because of staff turnover, retirements and institutional knowledge being lost.
“I think there’s real challenges there,” Delaney said. “I think Barb is up to them.”
Jim Odato contributed to this report.
Sheehan and Bauerare upset that someone in their pocket didn’t get the job.
Now, watch them start courting her..
BINGO
Sheehan and Bauer are upset that someone in their pocket didn’t get the job.
Now, watch them start courting her…
Our appeal to Governor Hochul was too little, too late. The selection had been made weeks ago. There was no stomach to conduct a proper search for the executive director of one of the most important regional planning agencies for one of the largest parks in the world. And that is what bothers us the most. The Adirondack Park has state, national and global significance. And no search process for its staff leader? We wish the very best to the new executive director and appreciate the praise she is receiving from people we respect, but the insider process is as parochial as your local planning and school board, maybe more so.
January 18 2022
Governor Hochul,
The Adirondack Park Agency has a vacancy at its Executive Director level. This is an environmental agency of great importance to all New Yorkers. I write to ask that an environmental leader and strong knowledgeable voice for the Adirondack environment, its natural resources and community resources be appointed APA ED.
The quality of the environment in the Adirondack park is the complete key to its economic success. By appointing someone with a strong environmental background, you accomplish both.
The APA needs to be a partner with you in the fight against climate change. An economic development background is not what is needed now at the APA. Former Gov Cuomo was satisfied with that, but I am certain you are not.
You and all New Yorkers need someone with a distinguished environmental background to lead the APA forward, and to be a partner with you in your Climate Leadership initiative. The Adirondack Park’s natural and human communities need that environmental leadership at this crucial moment.
Thank you.
David Gibson, on behalf of Adirondack Wild
Proving my point right here…
You know what would be nice? If the Explorer could publish articles without seeking validation from the Adirondack Council or Protect. We’ve heard enough of their single-minded opinions to last a lifetime. Where’s the interviews with Rangers, local business owners, back country guides, local police, and others who live and work in the ADK and see it as more than a political fund raising opportunity or a canvas on which to paint their own legislative narratives. Neither organization has regulatory authority, nor do they represent a single person who lives and/or recreates in the ADK, and frankly many of us are tired of hearing from them in every single topic.
Additionally, using the same sources over and over again is lazy journalism.
ADKBCSkier, frankly, I am amazed that your takeaway from Explorer during the past years is that they are parroting an environmentalist agenda and that economic interests are being neglected. Some of the current headlines: “State awards millions to Adirondack projects”, “Tupper Lake’s star-gazing attraction aims to expand”, “APA approves White Lake quarry project, with some conditions”, “Big wins for Tupper” … The name of THIS article: “Saranac Lake native, *economic development* leader to head the APA” (my italics). Considering all of that, it would be insanity not to give Adirondack Wild or even the disdained Protect an outlet. They have some of the world’s foremost Adirondack experts and historians on their boards, who have been following the Park since long before the current economic boom.
A disappointing choice for sure. With the environmental challenges our park is experiencing we should have had a ecology and natural resource expert put to the helm. Without a highly protected park, where conservation is understood and prioritized, we don’t have good economic prospects either – we just have another defunct upstate region.