Victor
Willis Flickinger
Victor Willis (“VW”) Flickinger (1905 – 1983) received the Pugsley Silver Medal in 1951. He entered Iowa State University to study mechanical engineering, but after one year switched majors to landscape architecture. He received his BS degree in that field in 1930 and embarked on a lifetime career in parks. Immediately after graduation he worked for the Pennsylvania Railroad, then as landscape architect for a commercial firm and finally he was appointed city forester at Mason City, Iowa, where he worked under the city engineer. Among his responsibilities was the preparation of master plans for city park developments.
In 1933 he was hired by the NPS to assist with the
Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) program as a landscape foreman in charge of
design, layout and construction of various state parks in Northwest Iowa. In
1934 he was transferred to northeast Iowa as superintendent of the CCC camp in
Blackbone State Park, Iowa’s oldest park. The camp received a number of
commendations from the NPS for the quality of its work. During the six years
that Flickinger was in the CCC program, he was assigned by the NPS for various
periods as a regional inspector.
In 1939, he was appointed chief, Division of Lands and
Waters, for the Iowa State Conservation Commission, with responsibility for
the state’s parks, forests, waters and historical sites. He served in this
position for 10½ years. One of the highlights of his work was developing the
master plan for President Hoover’s birthplace property, and presenting it to
the president. His tenure was temporarily interrupted while serving for three
years as a captain of coast artillery in World War II.
During this period, the development and maintenance of
state parks, preserves and state owned water such as the national lakes and
rivers was a high priority in Iowa. These waters included the Mississippi and
Missouri Rivers bordering Iowa and the large lakes in northwest Iowa.
Flickinger developed creative plans for utilizing these areas for public
recreation, while preserving their natural state as much as possible. He
recognized the importance of having law enforcement available in each state
park. He was responsible for major development projects at National Twins and
Storm Lakes which resulted in improved water quality and recreation potential
as well as expanding the land areas bordering these lakes that could be used
for recreation. In 1940, he obtained approval to establish a park naturalist
program. It was staffed by five persons and a supervisor funded through the
WPA and five people funded by the state. Flickinger’s intent was to ensure
that people visiting these areas understood the value and sensibility of the
resource they had at their disposal. One of his peers in Iowa during this
period observed, “CCC and WPA staff are the ‘tools’ of his trade, with
his ability to persuade being the driving force…His resignation in 1949 was
a great loss to the people of the state of Iowa.”
In 1949, Flickinger moved east to become the first Chief of the Division of Parks within the newly created Ohio Department of Natural Resources. A few months after the creation of Ohio’s state park system in 1949, Flickinger was appointed by Ohio Governor Frank J. Lausche to serve as its top administrator. He remained in the position until 1964. Victor Flickinger is credited with building the framework for Ohio’s modern state park system and adopting a systematic approach to park development and management. He crafted a plan for the long-term development of the parks system which ultimately determined the character that a number of parks would retain (for example, resort parks, parks with large campgrounds, or relatively undeveloped parks with primarily day-use facilities), and set priorities for capital improvements. Flickinger laid the groundwork for the long-term fiscal well-being of the park system by initiating a rotating fund to allow the division to use revenues generated from state park facilities. Many of the policies he established on a variety of operational issues remained in effect for many decades after his retirement.
Other significant accomplishments during Flickinger’s tenure, included the establishment of in-service training programs for park managers and park rangers, and the creation of the park naturalist program. In-service training became a mainstay in the system for preparing new managers and law enforcement officers for their duties, as well as for providing continuing education for management and law enforcement staff. The magnitude of the expansion of the system during Flickinger’s tenure can be gauged from the statistics. In 1950, 3.5 million visitor days were recorded in Ohio’s state parks, but by 1962 visitation had risen to 20.1 million. In 1949 the budget was $116,000, and by 1962 it was $2.8 million, while operating personnel went from 60 in 1950 to 612 in 1962.
In 1964, Flickinger returned to the NPS as a park planner in the Washington office and later in the regional office in Richmond, Virginia. His task was to provide states with technical assistance in formulating comprehensive plans for park development. He retired from the NPS in 1972.
During his career he was president of the National Conference on State Parks for two years and continuously involved in the leadership of that organization throughout his career. He was also the first President of the Midwest State Park Association.
- Source:
- A Legacy of Stewardship. The Ohio Department of Natural Resources, 1949-1989.
- Backs, Jean (2003). Personal communication, public information manager, Ohio State Parks.
- Copeland, R. W. (1963) Profile of a conservationist, Victor W Flickinger Ohio Conservation Bulletin February, 15.
- Downing, R. L. (2004) Former Waters Section Bureau Chief, Iowa, personal communication.
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