FANs Board of Directors, 2024
Friends and Neighbors of the Deschutes Canyon Area board meetings are open to all members. Copies of the agenda and financial reports are available before the meetings. Public comments are welcome at the end of the board meetings. Contact us if you would like to attend a meeting.
Al Albin, Board Member, grew up on a farm south of Salem, Oregon. Later, he lived in the John Day Valley where he worked at the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument. His interaction with the geologists and paleontologists who studied the fossil beds inspired him to pursue geology in earnest. Al received a Bachelor of Science degree in geology from Oregon State University and a master’s degree from Northern Arizona University. He worked as an engineering geologist and later on dams and water control projects in the Rocky Mountain Region and the Great Plains states until he retired in 2013. After 25 years away, Al felt the need to come back home. He and his wife, Kathlene, moved back to Oregon in 2015 and have made Crooked River Ranch their happy home.
Sue Combs, Treasurer, Database Manager and Website Guru-in-Training, is a born-and-raised Willamette Valley Oregonian and Oregon State graduate, who returned to Central Oregon in 2017 after living in Colorado for many years. Central Oregon was always her favorite playground while growing up, so she is thrilled to be home! Sue brings a passion for wild places, outdoor recreation and spreadsheets to FANs. She has a Bachelor of Science in Forest Management, worked as an engineering drafter for many years (before CAD), and then taught elementary school. She has two adult sons and is 2-year-old Amelia's adoring Nana.
Sue Combs, Treasurer, Database Manager and Website Guru-in-Training, is a born-and-raised Willamette Valley Oregonian and Oregon State graduate, who returned to Central Oregon in 2017 after living in Colorado for many years. Central Oregon was always her favorite playground while growing up, so she is thrilled to be home! Sue brings a passion for wild places, outdoor recreation and spreadsheets to FANs. She has a Bachelor of Science in Forest Management, worked as an engineering drafter for many years (before CAD), and then taught elementary school. She has two adult sons and is 2-year-old Amelia's adoring Nana.
Robin Galloway, FANs President, lives in the Lower Bridge Valley, where she is learning about improving wildlife habitat in the high desert. She is an Oregon State University Professor Emeritus and worked with the OSU Extension Service 4-H Youth Development program. Engaging youth and families through natural resource education is one of her passions.
Chris Gardner, Board Member, has lived in central Oregon since the 1980s, where he raised three children. A graduate of Indiana University, he recently retired from a career as a trial lawyer, focusing on representing abused and neglected children. A founding member of the KIDS Center board and a long term member of the Friends of the Malheur Wildlife Refuge board, he has broad non-profit experience. His home overlooks the Deschutes River valley where he hikes, rafts, swims, fishes and feels a deep commitment to preserving the middle Deschutes River while enhancing opportunities for us all to enjoy this environmental jewel.
Rod Miller, Board Member, grew up in very rural Eastern Nevada. Rod came to love and appreciate the beauty and freedom of the great outdoors. A career in computers and later running his own business in the San Francisco Bay Area put a damper on his time in the Great Basin and the High Sierra but he managed. In 2020, Rod moved to Central Oregon and is very happy to be back in Sagebrush Country. He is currently working with other FANs members to refine the role in the organization of the FANs building in Crooked River Ranch's Canyon Village.
Tom Mottl, Board Member, graduated from Colorado State University and began his career with BLM as a Hydrologist and Recreation Planner. He was a river manager for several rivers in New Mexico and then in Central Oregon. His last project was constructing trails within the Crooked and Deschutes Rivers adjacent to Crooked River Ranch. Tom would like to continue his involvement in protecting and enhancing these two Wild and Scenic rivers.
Cindy Murray, Secretary and FANs Hiking Coordinator, moved to Central Oregon from Southern California in 2008. The wild and scenic canyon lands proved to be irresistible after a visit 17 years earlier. Living on the edge of Deschutes Canyon-Steelhead Falls Wilderness Study Area has given her an opportunity to observe wildlife on a daily basis. She is passionate about these beautiful public lands and participates in projects to educate others about the natural wonders in our backyard.
Mac Walker, Board Member, has spent a life on two wheels and in two worlds. Learning to ride a bicycle without training wheels, riding trails before mountain bikes were a thing, and currently riding road and off-road motorcycles, he enjoys exploring the frontcountry of our nation from the saddle of his motorcycle or bicycle. He served on Tillamook State Forest’s recreation advisory committee for several years as the motorcyclist representative. From an early age, his parents gave him an early love for wild places, spending family vacations camping and backpacking all over the Sierra Nevada. He participated in Yosemite public scoping meetings as a child, and has continued to support keeping our public lands and wild places affordable for families to visit. He loves learning about, then showing family, friends, and visitors the beauty of the area we are so lucky to live in. His intent as a board member of FANs is to fill gaps of understanding about conservation of wild areas, and responsible recreational use of non-wild areas, to the benefit of both.
Leadership Coordinators
Linda and Wayne Buttolph are serving as the Native Garden Coordinators. They are working with Marilynne Keyser and other volunteers to enhance the Crooked River Native Plant Interpretive Garden. The original garden was designed and planted in 2016. The 2023 update added more dimension and color and better plant signage to the original garden. The FANs leadership team recognized the Buttolphs’ contribution to its mission by presenting the couple with the Outstanding Volunteer Award for 2023.
Marilynne Keyser is FANs' Native Plant Coordinator and leads wildflower hikes. She is the author of FANs' Guide to Common Native Plants of the Deschutes Canyon Area and co-authored FANs Guide to Common Weeds of the Deschutes Canyon Area. An avid birder, hiker and canoeist, Marilynne has served as past-president of FANs. Her background as a CPA, former Oregon Deputy Secretary of State, and a past senior policy advisor to Governor Barbara Robert's policy staff has been a benefit to FANs.
Jeff Scheetz, Stewardship Coordinator, has climbed extensively in the Cascade range and has spent over 25 years as a Search and Rescue volunteer. Current interests include exploratory hiking, observational astronomy, and volunteer firefighting. Jeff also coordinates the Golden Eagle monitoring program with help from these nest monitors: Nancy & Cliff Baker, Wendy & Lyn Micklus, Ilene & Dean Smith, Wendy Fink, Kevin Spollen and Cindy Murray.
Jeff Scheetz, Stewardship Coordinator, has climbed extensively in the Cascade range and has spent over 25 years as a Search and Rescue volunteer. Current interests include exploratory hiking, observational astronomy, and volunteer firefighting. Jeff also coordinates the Golden Eagle monitoring program with help from these nest monitors: Nancy & Cliff Baker, Wendy & Lyn Micklus, Ilene & Dean Smith, Wendy Fink, Kevin Spollen and Cindy Murray.
Ilene Smith is FANs’ Deschutes Canyon Currents newsletter editor. After 20 years of living overseas and in Washington D.C. with the US Department of State, Ilene and her husband, Dean, recently returned to the farm they have owned for over 30 years on the Middle Deschutes River west of Redmond. Raised by parents who modeled environmental stewardship by developing their own nature park, Ilene is hoping to carry that torch by engaging in projects here in Central Oregon that protect and expand wild and scenic areas. Hobbies include herpetology, hiking, biking, fly fishing, tennis, trail cam wildlife monitoring, and anything outdoors!
