Board of Directors
Friends and Neighbors of the Deschutes Canyon Area board meetings are held at 4:00 p.m. the second Sunday of most months. Copies of the agenda 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.
Phyllis Carlin, Board Member, graduated from the University of Texas, and soon boarded a Military Airlift Command (MAC) flight headed to Heidelberg, Germany, where she taught and was later a school administrator for the Department of Defense Dependents Schools. Discovering Central Oregon on summer breaks, she fell in love with the high desert where she enjoyed a wide variety of outdoor activities. A love of nature was instilled in Phyllis at an early age by her mother, and with all the beauty around she simply couldn’t think of a better place to call home than Central Oregon.
Sue Combs, Treasurer, Database Manager and Website Guru-in-Training, is a born-and-raised Willamette Valley Oregonian and Oregon State graduate, who has recently returned after living in Colorado for most of the last thirty 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.
Sue Combs, Treasurer, Database Manager and Website Guru-in-Training, is a born-and-raised Willamette Valley Oregonian and Oregon State graduate, who has recently returned after living in Colorado for most of the last thirty 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.
Chris Gardner, Board Member, has lived in central Oregon since the 1980's, 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.
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.
Marilynne Keyser, FANs Past-President, is a retired CPA who also worked on Governor Barbara Robert's policy staff during the early 1990s. She is an avid birder, hiker and canoeist, and an amateur native plant specialist. Marilynne heads up FANs' native plant efforts.
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 Past-President, moved to Central Oregon from Southern California 7 years ago. 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. Cindy is FANs of the Deschutes Canyon Area's Membership Coordinator.
Penny Radtke, Weed Team Coordinator, was born and raised in the Willamette Valley of Oregon. Annual family camping trips to Central Oregon sparked her love for the high desert. She moved to Bend in 1977 and to Crooked River Ranch in 2011. Penny is an avid hiker, canoeist, and wildflower enthusiast. After a career in nursing, she is thrilled to be able to spend more time and energy enjoying the surrounding wild and scenic lands.
Penny Radtke, Weed Team Coordinator, was born and raised in the Willamette Valley of Oregon. Annual family camping trips to Central Oregon sparked her love for the high desert. She moved to Bend in 1977 and to Crooked River Ranch in 2011. Penny is an avid hiker, canoeist, and wildflower enthusiast. After a career in nursing, she is thrilled to be able to spend more time and energy enjoying the surrounding wild and scenic lands.
Diane Randgaard, Board Member, is a public school math teacher. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Wildlife Ecology at Humboldt State University and a Master's Degree in Environmental Science at Western Washington University. Diane lives near the Deschutes Canyon Area and hikes there often year-round, appreciating the spectacular river canyon and its diverse wildlife. She manages FANs of the Deschutes Canyon Area's social media and coordinates the Crooked River National Grassland Nest Box Trail on the Peninsula.
Leadership Coordinators
Karen Atwood, Native Garden Coordinator, is excited to be able to continue the work that Marilynne Keyser and FANs envisioned and initiated. The Native Garden has become one of the focal points of Crooked River Ranch's Administration area and Karen has been pleased to play a part in its success.
Eric Hanson, Trail Monitor, leads hikes and monitors trail conditions and organizes trail maintenance projects in the Lower Crooked River Canyon and Middle Deschutes Canyon.
Jeff Scheetz is the FANs Golden Eagle Monitoring Coordinator and a hike leader. After an engineering career in the Pacific Northwest, Jeff moved to Crooked River Ranch in 2013. He has climbed extensively in the Cascade range, and spent over 25 years as a Search and Rescue volunteer. Current interests include exploratory hiking, observational astronomy, and volunteer firefighting.
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 have 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!
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!
