A country girl who grew up loving the great outdoors, Linda Casey, retiring Alabama State Forester, majored in forestry and wildlife management at Virginia Tech and had her eyes set on a career in one of those fields.
When she told friends that was her goal after graduation, support was the last thing she received from classmates. “They told me it was dominated by men and was too tough for a woman,” Casey said. “I figured it had to be a pretty good career if you’re told you can’t do something.”
Never one to lack self-confidence in whatever she tried, Casey ignored those who felt she couldn’t handle such a job and went looking for something in forestry.
Four decades later, she’s completing a career that took her around the South and established her as one of America’s leading female foresters.
For the past seven years, Casey, 63, has been state forester, the top spot in the Alabama Forestry Commission — proving how wrong those classmates where when they tried to dissuade her from working in the woods.
From The Montgomery Advertiser: https://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/article/20131215/NEWS/312150054/Retiring-state-forester-broke-barriers-forestry-timber-harvesting?odyssey=mod|breaking|text|Frontpage&nclick_check=1