Meet Sue and Brian Hagens, Jackson District, Visitor Information/Front Desk
Recently retired, Sue and Brian Hagens are now full-time RVers. “We bounce around to different places,” Brian says. Sue adds, “When we decided to take on this adventure we wanted to get around and see other parts of the country and were interested in volunteering on public lands.”
Volunteering on the Bridger-Teton National Forest for the first time in the summer of 2025, the couple says they first visited this area about 15 years ago. “We did a quick swing through and just thought it was beautiful,” Brian says. “We want to help other visitors experience this land and have a memorable trip, too.”
Since retiring, the couple has done 3-month stints volunteering in the Sawtooth National Recreation Area, in Washington state’s San Juan Island National Historical Park, Pahranagat National Wildlife Refuge north of Las Vegas, Nevada, in state and national parks in northern California, and at Fort Sumter and Fort Moultrie National Historic Park in South Carolina.
“We’ve had some training in Leave No Trace Principles,” Sue says. “With each visitor, whether hiking or camping, we drop in appropriate messages—whether about how to respect wildlife, how to dispose of waste safely, or fire safety. We want to help visitors think about things because they could potentially injure themselves or get into a situation that is difficult for them, the landscape, or wildlife.”
The couple will be in the Tetons with their dog, Wally, a 75-pound Smooth Collie. “He enjoys being outside and is very observant, like you’d expect a herding dog to be,” Brian says. They hope to do some hiking and discover places that are off-the-beaten path.
Fun Facts: Brian: A former equipment manager for a number of college teams, Brian fit Tom Brady for his first helmet at the University of Michigan. In the NFL, Brady won 7 Superbowl titles—6 with the New England Patriots and 1 with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Sue: Sue was once in a mild hot air balloon crash in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont. Flying with a hot-air-balloon-pilot friend, Sue’s balloon was taken by a gust of wind. Her friend managed to “gently put it down the side of a tree in the forest,” she says. “Since no one was hurt, I can look at it as something interesting that happened.”