Meet Joy Flannagan, Jackson Wildlife Ambassador
Before starting as a FBT volunteer Wildlife Ambassador in the summer of 2025, Joy hadn’t spent much time in Jackson Hole, but the time she had spent in the valley was significant: “I did the Teton Crest Trail in 2019 with my then-boyfriend and we got engaged in the North Fork of Cascade Canyon,” she says. “We fell in love with the area on that trip and we’ve always said we wanted to go back.”
Joy attributes her love of camping and hiking to her late mother, Peggy. “I’m not sure how long I’ve been hiking and camping—probably since I was in utero,” she says. One of Joy’s earliest memories is of her mother waking her up to see the sunrise over the Atlantic Ocean on Hunting Island, one of South Carolina’s barrier islands.
Since moving into their camper two years ago, Joy and her husband, Oak, have spent four months in Shenandoah National Park, three months with the Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit of the National Forest Service, three months at Pahranagat National Wildlife refuge in Nevada, and four months at the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. At the latter, Joy’s job was pruning a historic orchard of apricot, apple, quince, fig, pears, and peaches. “There are some amazing opportunities available on Volunteer.gov,” she says.
In Shenandoah National Park, part of Joy’s job was educating visitors about bear awareness, respecting wildlife, and fire safety. “There weren’t grizzly bears in Shenandoah, but I think the BTNF position expands on that. I feel like most people who don’t respect wildlife—it’s because they don’t know any better. I’m happy to help educate them about why it is important.”
While not fulfilling her volunteer duties, Joy and her husband plan on hiking and maybe paddling. They’re here with their two dogs, Beau and Cinabun. “They love hiking and being outside, but Beau is very barky, so they don’t get to go as often as they’d like. I don’t want Beau to be barking at everyone. Hopefully we’ll find some less-popular places where there isn’t as much for him to bark at.”
Fun Fact: When she was 19 and working at Phipps Plaza, a mall in Atlanta, Georgia, Joy met three members of her favorite band at that time, Incubus. “I met them all the same day, but at different times,” she says. “I passed one of them when I was walking across the street to cash my paycheck and then, back at the mall and finishing up my lunch I met the bassist in a bookstore and the lead singer in Abercrombie & Fitch. I was ridiculously fan girling [with the lead singer]. I told him his music changed my life and then I ran away and melted down. He was so nice and I think he really tried to have a real conversation with me.”
