Meet the Board!

Scott Wood, President

Scott was born and raised in Arizona, and has lived, worked, or attended school, all around the state. He worked for the Tonto National Forest for 40 years and retired from his job as Forest Archaeologist in 2015. During that time, he spent significant time on the preservation and interpretation of cultural resources in Arizona. He worked with volunteers, and promoted public archaeology and the importance of using citizen scientists in archaeological research and preservation. He helped found the volunteer Site Steward Program for State Parks and still works with them through the Arizona Site Stewards Program Foundation.

As a member of the Board of the Friends of the Tonto National Forest, Scott leads ruin preservation projects and public interpretation at archaeological locations. He conducts research through Friends’ volunteer projects in collaboration with the Arizona Archaeological Society, Arizona State University, and Friends of the Agua Fria National Monument. Scott has one son and one grandson. He has been married to Patti Fenner, Executive Director of Friends for over 40 years, which is how he got involved with Friends in the first place…

John Matteson, Vice President

Over the past few years I have volunteered for MRD and AZT and have organized trail work events on the Arizona Trail.  I am the Chief Steward for the Mazatzal Mountain Region of the Arizona Trail, and Steward of Segment 21B of the Arizona Trail.

Through my relationship with both Arizona Trail Association and Friends of the Tonto, I have obtained State Parks Recreation Trail Program grants to perform maintenance work on several trails on the Tonto, including Sheep Creek, Campaign and Reavis Trails.  I hike to the work sites to orient the youth crews and check on their progress during the term of the grant.  I also recruit and do work trips with volunteers to provide non-federal labor match for these grants, and to provide a quality wilderness experience for those volunteers.

I was a founding member of FOTNF, have served on the Board, and also as President of FOTNF from 2018 to 2019.

Urb Weidner, Secretary

Originally from Chicago, IL, Urb worked there following his graduation from the U. of Illinois and military service where served as a Captain in the US Army Ordinance Corps. A love for the outdoors was developed following relocation with his family to MN. Later, having moved to the north shoreline of Lake Superior, he frequented the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and often hiked on the nearby Superior Hiking Trail. Urb also lived for several years in Asia (Hong Kong & Singapore).

Upon arriving in AZ, Urb has been an active board member of the Sierra Club Saguaro Group for 15 years. His current role is leadership of the Group service projects, which include trail maintenance on the Maricopa Trail and at Spur Cross Ranch Conservation Area; maintenance support to Wild at Heart Raptor Rescue and SW Wildlife Conservation Area; and leading Sierra Club support of the Photopoint program and Milkweed planting in the Tonto.

Susan Sridharan, Treasurer

Susan was born in Detroit, Michigan and trained in both botany and accounting. She lived in places as varied as Chicago, India, and London, Ontario. After she retired from a Detroit-area accounting firm in 2016, Susan moved to Arizona. She developed a deep appreciation for the beauty of the Sonoran Desert while hiking with her local hiking group. An avid birder, Susan is a volunteer at Wild At Heart, a raptor rescue in Cave Creek.

Susan discovered the Friends of the Tonto at a Sears-Kay Open House in 2017. Since then she has taken part in milkweed planting, invasive plants training and the Riparian Photopoint project. Susan was impressed with the dedication of Friends’ volunteers and the importance of their projects. Therefore, she gladly volunteered for a position on the Board as Treasurer.

Patti Fenner, Executive Director

Despite moving to Arizona in the summer, at the tender age of 2 in an un-airconditioned station wagon, Patti Fenner chose a career working in the outdoors. She earned a degree in Botany at ASU. Then, to put the botany degree to practical use, went on to a Master’s program in Natural Resource Management. As she graduated in 1980, the Tonto National Forest created a new Range Conservationist job on the Cave Creek Ranger District. The job was created in part because of a lawsuit by the Audubon Society to improve grazing management along the Salt and Verde Rivers. Patti worked as a Range/Watershed staff for 23 years.

In 2003, Patti was offered the chance to create the Tonto’s first Invasive Plant program. This was undoubtedly the best job on the Forest! She spent hours discovering infestations and mapping them across the entire Forest. After mapping, she worked with District personnel, volunteers, other agencies, and contractors to control them.

Patti has served as President and on the board of the statewide invasive plant organization, SW Vegetation Management Association. She is currently on a committee who worked to revise Arizona’s Invasive Weed Rule.

Patti retired in 2014, and, unable to kick the habit of work, created Friends of the Tonto National Forest. Working with the brilliant and creative people on the Friends’ board is one of the great joys of her life (the others being her husband and friend, Scott Wood, son, daughter-in-law, and 4-year-old grandson).

Becky Settje

Becky Settje and her husband, Scott, moved to Tonto Basin, AZ in July 2019. Before moving to AZ, she was a volunteer with the New England Wildflower Society (Native Plant Trust) and the Rhode Island Wild Plant Society for several years. Wanting to be involved with native plants in Arizona, she decided to start the Tonto Basin Chapter of the AZ Native Plant Society. The chapter is entering its third year and has participants from Pine, Payson, Tonto Basin and Globe.

Becky is mostly a self-taught native plant enthusiast and has a passion to educate others on the importance of native plant species in our landscapes—both private and public. She has worked on several projects eradicating non-native invasive plant species in Arizona and Rhode Island.

Her goal is to bring awareness to the residents in Gila County about the Friends of the Tonto National Forest and to expand projects to “our side of the mountains.”

Helene Tack

Helene Tack grew up in eastern Pennsylvania, spending a lot of time outdoors exploring streams and creeks and taking care of the family sheep, pig and horse. She moved to Arizona to attend ASU, graduating with a BFA in Photography. She has worked in the publishing and hospitality industries, and has spent over a decade at Local First Arizona (LFA), a nonprofit focused on building local economies. As one of LFA’s first employees, she gathered a wide variety of skills including leading events, developing membership protocols, organizing communications and strategic planning for the organization. As the Director of Sustainability Initiatives with LFA, Helene helped locally owned businesses improve their environmental impact, advising them on reducing waste, energy and water consumption, pollution prevention and social responsibility in operations. She has implemented Towards Zero Waste initiatives to divert recyclable and compostable waste from the landfill at large events, launched a Green Business certification program, helped form the Coalition for Farmland Preservation and developed local procurement resources. She is currently working on a Masters of Science from Prescott College in Resilient and Sustainable Communities. She is an avid recycler, hiker, camper and dog-rescuer. Her favorite ways to spend time in the Tonto National Forest include kayaking the Salt River and hiking in the Superstitions.

Laura Marshall

I’m an Arizona native, born in Mesa and grew up in the Ponderosa Pines of Young, AZ. After high school I had the adventure of moving around the country as a Navy wife for 16 years. I then returned home to Arizona with a stronger appreciation of our diverse landscape and enrolled in Arizona State University. I received my master’s degree in Restoration Ecology, completing a flora of the upper Sonoran Desert and researching saguaro habitat. I’ve participated in many restoration projects, surveying and inventorying vegetation including invasive and rare species. I began my career with the Tonto National Forest in 2022 as a Botany Survey Technician then joined their recreation program. I enjoy interacting with the public and educating our campers on their surrounding environment to create awareness, appreciation and responsibility for their public lands.

Leslie Crabtree

Leslie grew up in Gilbert, AZ. Winter Sundays were spent with grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins out in the desert. Summer weekends were spent camping and fishing in the forest around Payson. While in her teens, her family left Arizona for Idaho ranch life. She stayed, raised a family, worked in the medical field, and served on boards at both the state and local levels. When not working, Leslie and her family could be found in the mountains. 

Upon returning to Arizona in 2016, 40 years later, Leslie saw that the desert had changed. Grasses had taken over. The open areas between the desert plants where they tied the horses and laid the picnic blankets were disappearing. Concern led to research, and research led to the Friends of the Tonto. She started volunteering with the invasive plant project and the milkweed for monarchs project. She joined the Board in 2022. (Photo taken at Massacre Ground Trail parking lot following an invasive plants removal event.)

Matthew Ullman

My name is Matthew Ullman. I am 56 years old and have lived in the valley since moving here from Ohio in 2012. I enjoy spending my time outside pursuing many activities. My wife and I have volunteered with Friends of the Tonto in the Milkweed for Monarchs project and soon I will be helping with the Saguaro Monitoring project. Our backyard is a registered Monarch Way Station. We have spent many years creating a yard that is environmentally friendly, pesticide free, ensuring that it is welcoming to as many reptiles, birds and other critters as possible. Being  outdoors is something I enjoy very much.

Mike Salvucci

Mike was born and raised outside Philadelphia where he developed a keen interest in sustainability during the environmental movement of the early 70s. He attended Penn State University, receiving a BS in Biology. He then attended the University of Florida, where he received graduate degrees in Botany with a minor in Biochemistry for research on photosynthesis in aquatic plants.. Following graduate school, Mike was hired as a Plant Physiologist by the Agricultural Research Service of the USDA. As a category I scientist, first in Lexington, Kentucky and later in Arizona, he conducted basic research on the biochemical mechanisms underlying inhibition of photosynthesis by heat stress.

Upon moving to Arizona in 1994, Mike developed an interest in desert ecosystems and became an avid hiker, particularly in the Superstition Wilderness. Following retirement, he volunteered with the Forest Service as a Wilderness Steward, initiating and co-coordinating the Adopt-A-Trail Program in the Superstition Wilderness in conjunction with Friends of the Tonto. Mike enjoys hiking, backpacking, stargazing and sailing. He and his wife lived aboard a small sailboat for six summers, two in Washington and four in San Diego, and then sailed his boat down to Baja, Mexico, where he spent three winter seasons living aboard. In addition to the Friends of the Tonto’s trail maintenance programs, Mike is interested in furthering projects that address the heat island component of climate change, environmental destruction from over-development and groundwater depletion and carbon footprint expansion caused by excess consumption.

Nancy Myers

My name is Nancy Myers. I am 67 years old and retired to Mesa, AZ in February, 2024.  I retired from the US Forest Service after 32 years in August 2023. I previously worked on the Tonto National Forest as the Fee Demo Coordinator from 1997-2001. My last Forest assignment was at the Hoosier National Forest in Tell City, Indiana where I was a Natural Resources Manager responsible for the developed recreation areas on the Forest. I was there for the last 23 years of my career. While I was on the Hoosier NF, I still had an affinity for the Tonto NF, so I joined the Friends of the Tonto NF. I could not do anything from that far away, but I thought I could at least support them monetarily.