Like millions of Americans, Carey’s love of public lands began as a child during family vacations out west.

After graduating from the University of Illinois with a degree in anthropology and geology, Carey worked as a seasonal ranger in Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks, where she met her husband, Walt Dabney.

His work with the National Park Service (NPS) eventually took them to Moab, Utah, where he retired from the NPS to become the director of Texas State Parks. Upon returning to Moab in 2014, they became alarmed by statements made by elected officials that the state of Utah was the rightful owner of US public lands because it is unconstitutional for the federal government to own land.

In response to these assertions, Carey, in 2020, as a member of the League of Women Voters of Grand County, authored an educational study on the Transfer of Public Lands Movement, whose purpose was to explore how US public lands came to be, what they provide both economically and culturally, and the consequences to the future of these lands and public access to them if the Transfer of Public Lands Movement succeeds. To better understand the organized attempt by transfer proponents to develop a narrative supporting their claims, this study also examined the actions being advanced by those who would claim state ownership of US public lands.

Carey is currently working with America’s Public Land to raise awareness about Utah’s public lands lawsuit and the Stand for Our Land- Let Utah Manage Utah Land campaign.