About Tracy Ormsbee

Tracy Ormsbee is publisher of the Adirondack Explorer. When she’s not working – and it’s not black fly season – you can find her outdoors hiking, running, paddle boarding or reading a book on an Adirondack chair somewhere.

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Comments

  1. louis curth says

    Thank you Tracy Ormsbee for this uplifting story just in time for MLKs birthday.

    Ms. Jolly, I am very interested in your plans for a possible career as a forest ranger. You might be interested in the following bit of history:

    Over twenty years ago, I had high hopes for an outcome like yours involving a promising non-white forestry student soon to graduate from Paul Smith’s College. Celita was recommended to me by Professor Gary Chilson soon after I had written an article in the 2001 Adirondack Journal of Environmental Studies urging greater diversity in the conservation movement. (Prof. Chilson was the editor of AJES.)

    Soon after, I went to Paul Smith’s to meet and have an interview with Celita. As a result, I arranged for DEC to hire her as an Assistant Forest Ranger that summer. Her job came at a time when there were very few female forest rangers or assistant rangers, and she may even be the very first woman of color ever hired in that capacity. At any rate, my hopes for her to go further with her career as a ranger became part of the collateral damage as the nation dug out after the events of 9-11.

    When I retired in 2003, I lost track of Celita except to know that she never did go on to become a full time forest ranger. Now I am elated to know of your plans, Ms. Jolly, and to wish you the best of luck for the future wherever it may lead you.

  2. Jenny Preiss Burnett says

    This is a wonderful story. As a Ranger School graduate, I identified with many aspects of Ms. Jolly’s experience. It was a life changing, challenging formative year.

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