During his 10 years as director, Fischer secured funding for the Alaska Federation of Natives and helped write the environmental impact statement for the Trans-Alaska Pipeline.

[1][2] Fischer returned to elected office in 1980 when he ran for and won a seat in the Alaska Senate, unseating incumbent Republican Bill Sumner.

A lifelong liberal activist, Fischer continued campaigning for Democratic candidates and causes until the end of his life; he was the co-chair of an unsuccessful attempt to recall Alaska governor Mike Dunleavy in 2019.

[1][2] As a child, Fischer and his brother were shuffled between Germany and Russia, as his parents faced persecution under the Soviet Union; the family fled to the United States in 1939.

Fischer entered hospice care in 2023 due to poor health and died on October 22 of that year, aged 99.