Meet Maureen Harrington, Jackson Ranger District, Cache and Game Creeks Ambassador
The first time Maureen visited the mountains—a friend took her to Yosemite—she says she was terrified. “I’m from New Jersey, a shore town girl. In Yosemite there were mountains and trees and no beach.” She got over her terror quickly though; less than 10 years after her first mountain experience she was working trail crew and as a wilderness ranger in the John Muir Wilderness. She’s joining FBT as a first-time Ambassador for summer, 2025.
“Being in the forest turned my life around,” she says. “It made me proud of myself—I walked the trails and lived by myself in the wilderness for 10 days at a time—and gave me a lot of confidence.” After retiring from careers with the Bureau of Reclamation and the Department of Health & Human Services, Maureen knew she wanted to get back to the forest. And she knew she wanted to be in Jackson Hole. “I did a 5-day road trip through Yellowstone and the Tetons and was drunk in love with the whole area,” she says. “When I saw something in the Bridger-Teton National Forest on volunteer.gov, I immediately applied. I started packing my camper after my first interview.”
Maureen hopes to be able to apply a skill she gained during her professional careers—communicating important messages in a kind, friendly, and non-confrontational way—during her time as an Ambassador. “Me explaining things in a serious but friendly way is not a problem.” And if she only meets amazing stewards of the BTNF this summer and doesn’t have to explain why feeding wildlife isn’t good, she still wants to talk. “I love to talk to everyone about everything,” she says. “To me knowledge is power and if you don’t talk to the people you meet out in everyday life, you don’t get the knowledge.”
Fun Fact: “I almost vomited on Bruce Springsteen when I was a teenager.” Maureen says. “I was at a bar, the Fast Lane, in Asbury Park, New Jersey, and talking with a friend. I had my elbow up on the bar and a person behind me kept bumping me. I was getting annoyed and then my friend told me it was Bruce Springsteen. I turned around to look at him and realized I was about to throw up, so we ran out of there.”