Adirondack Council to Honor Robert J. Kafin with Lifetime Achievement Award
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Monday, June 2, 2025
Adirondack Council Honoring Founding Board Member, Renowned Environmental Attorney
BOLTON, N.Y. – When the Adirondack Council gathers on the shore of Lake George in July to celebrate the organization’s 50th Anniversary, its board of directors, staff and members will recognize the contributions of renowned environmental attorney Robert J. Kafin over the past half-century with a Lifetime Achievement Award.
A Glens Falls native and Bolton resident, Kafin was a founding member of the Adirondack Council’s board of directors. Over the ensuing decades, Kafin has distinguished himself as one of the nation’s leading environmental attorneys, with deep expertise in state and federal regulatory policy.
The Adirondack Council will also honor seven organizations that have helped shape the Adirondack Park’s culture and legacy over the past 50 years. They include the Adirondack Land Trust, Adirondack Mountain Club, Adirondack Wild, the Lake George Association, Protect the Adirondacks!, Lyme Timber Company, and The Nature Conservancy.
The awards will be presented on July 19 at the Silver Bay YMCA during a 4 to 7 p.m. reception overlooking northern Lake George. More information and tickets are available at the Council’s website.
“Many stakeholders have played pivotal roles in shaping the Adirondack Council over the years,” said Adirondack Council Executive Director Raul J. Aguirre. “But few have had more impact than Bob Kafin. From the beginning, Bob has been a trusted advisor and friend to the Council. He served on our board for almost half of those 50 years, always close at hand, always a strong voice for the Adirondacks. His legal insight and strategic counsel have helped us secure victories for clean water, healthy air, and protected wild lands.
“Beyond his passion for this special place, Bob has a special knack for taking a 200-page legal decision, or a five-volume draft regulation, and turning it into something that anyone can understand,” Aguirre said. “That’s a rare and valuable gift that makes any advocacy organization more effective. In order to get the government’s attention, advocates must build momentum by educating and motivating voters to demand action. At the same time, he is a kind and thoughtful person with a great sense of humor and fun to be around.”
Kafin is a long-time partner at Proskauer Rose LLP, where he founded the firm’s Environmental Practice Group. He also served Proskauer for 15 years as its Chief Operating Partner and General Counsel. Throughout his career, Bob has been widely regarded as one of the nation’s leading environmental attorneys working at the intersection of law, conservation, and public interest.
A lifelong advocate for environmental protection, Bob’s 18 years on the Adirondack Council board included nine as Vice Chair and Chair. For over 50 years, he has made enduring contributions to the Adirondack Council and numerous other conservation and not-for-profit organizations devoted to the protection of the Adirondack Park and the Lake George region.
His deep legal expertise and steadfast commitment to collective action have significantly influenced the ecological health and wild character of the Adirondack Park.
In addition to his work with the Adirondack Council, Bob has served as Chair or President of several prominent organizations, including Citizens for Clean Air, the Council on the Environment of New York City (now GrowNYC), the Environmental Law Section of the New York State Bar Association, the Times Square Alliance, Friends of Crandall Library, the Glens Falls Conservation Commission, and Parks & Trails New York. He is also a founder of the Carl Schurz Park Association, Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts, and Lower Adirondack Regional Arts Council.
He currently also serves as a Trustee of Paul Smith’s College and a Director and Treasurer of Friends of Up Yonda Farm Environmental Education Center. He is a past Director or Trustee of Emma Willard School, Preservation League of New York State, The Hyde Collection, Lake George Association, Adirondack Conservancy (now the Adirondack Chapter of The Nature Conservancy), and the Broadway Association.
Established in 1975, the Adirondack Council is a privately funded, not-for-profit environmental advocacy organization dedicated to ensuring the ecological integrity and wild character of the Adirondack Park. The 9,300-square-mile Adirondack Park is one of the largest intact temperate forest ecosystems left in the world. The Adirondacks are home to about 130,000 New York residents in 130 rural communities.
The Council carries out its mission through research, education, advocacy and legal action. The Council envisions a Park with clean water and clean air, core wilderness areas, farms and working forests, and vibrant, diverse, welcoming, safe communities.
For more information: John Sheehan, Director of Communications, 518-441-1340
