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By M. Lisa Monroe
Express News Staff
When the Flat Iron property, off North Street in Old Forge, was bought by the state of New York in April, Dan Tickner, Sr. couldn’t have been happier. The sale was the culmination of 12 years of work by Tickner and the Open Spaces Committee, a group of individuals appointed by the state to look for land that the state should purchase to enhance the Adirondack Park.
Tickner’s area of expertise is navigable waters. The Flat Iron property is bordered on two sides by the Moose River, the North Branch along the north-western side and the Middle Branch along the south-eastern side. When you cross over the bridge on Route 28 to Thendara and look out across the water, the land you see toward the west is part of the Flat Iron. When you drive to the end of North Street and face the bridge, the Flat Iron is on the town side of the Moose River to your left. Tickner thought that it would be awful if that land were developed.
“I recognized that a bunch of condos on the North Branch would ruin our scenic vistas,” said Tickner.
In order for the land to be bought by the state and protected, there were a couple of conditions that had to be met. There had to be a willing seller—the committee has recommended to the state that no land be taken by eminent domain—and the land had to be listed as one of the top ten desirable parcels on the state’s list of lands to acquire.
“We were competing with a lot of other land,” Tickner said.
Tickner brought the parcel to the committee’s attention and even took members on canoe trips to show them exactly how important the property was to the park. The committee agreed, and the parcel was eventually listed on the top ten list. But Tickner credits Mike Mitchell with helping the sale along.
“It took a person like Mike Mitchell to come along and make it easily available to the state. You have a lot of different kinds of sellers: there are coy sellers and secretive sellers and belligerent sellers. We needed somebody like Mike to make the transaction easy and straight-forward. It fell apart so many times,” said Tickner.
Tickner also thanks Faith Norton for bringing the eight acres she owned in the Flat Iron to the state’s attention.
“Mrs. Norton also made her parcel available to the state,” he said.
Tickner’s connection to the Flat Iron goes way back. He thinks that it’s possible that his father and Reg Villiere were the ones who gave the property its name.
“Reg Villiere and my dad may have coined that term. They were the only ones I heard call it that because they thought it looked like a flat iron,” said Tickner.
Tickner’s father spent time with him out on the Flat Iron land when he was young, so his feelings about the land are deep.
“My dad would take me hunting out there when I was a boy. And I see people out there all the time hunting, or cross country skiing. I run into a lot of others who have enjoyed that piece of land for years,” Tickner said.
He was ecstatic and relieved when the deal was finally done.
“It’s glorious, a wonderful, wonderful feeling. My whole family is happy about the sale. For years, I bought lottery tickets thinking that, if I won, I could just buy the land and give it to the state. I guess I don’t have to do that anymore,” he said with a smile.
