Meet the Board!

Leslie Crabtree, President

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. She currently chairs the Communications Committee, is Project Lead for the Mesa Ranger District Monarch Habitat Project, and is Co-Lead on the
Invasive Plant Management Project.

John Matteson, Vice President

Over the past few years I have volunteered for the Friends of the Tonto and the Arizona Trail Association, and have organized trail work events on 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, as President from 2018 to 2019, and as Past-President from 2020 to 2021.

Before retiring I worked as Director of Information Technology for an international storage container rental company managing their computer and communications infrastructure.

Throughout my career I have worked closely with corporate managers and small business owners and would contribute an analytical business perspective to the board.

Urb Weidner, Secretary

Urb has lived in northern Minnesota, where he frequented the nearby Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, Superior National Forest, and the Superior Hiking Trail.  He currently is an active board member of the Friends of the Tonto National Forest.  Since 2020 his role has been Secretary of the organization.  Additional participation has included support of the Forest Service’s PhotoPoint program and Milkweed planting in the Tonto.

Nancy Myers, Treasurer

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.  Now that I’ve moved back to Arizona, I’ve spent the last year helping out on the Friends Finance Committee.

Patti Fenner, Interim 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 went on to a Master’s program in Natural Resource Management, to put the botany degree to practical use. As she graduated in 1980, the Tonto National Forest created a new Range Conservationist job on the Cave Creek Ranger District. She was hired and worked as a Range/Watershed staff for 23 years.

In 2003, she was offered the chance to create the Tonto’s first Invasive Plant program. This was undoubtedly the best job on the Forest. She spent many hours discovering infestations and mapping them across the entire Forest; and working 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 retired in 2014, and, unable to kick the habit of work, founded the non-profit organization 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 2 grandsons).

Scott Wood, Past 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.

Becky Settje, Board member at-large

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.”

Matthew Ullman, Board member at-large

My name is Matthew Ullman. I am 56 years old and have lived in the valley since 2012 moving here from Ohio. 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 in the outdoors is something I enjoy very much and I can think of no better way than putting a purpose to it by volunteering and serving on the Board.

Michael Scott, Board member at-large

Michael has always had a love of the outdoors growing up in Minnesota and
Missouri with many camping trips, hiking, and exploring State and National Parks with his family.  After moving to Arizona in 1987 and attending Northern Arizona University, the love of the outdoors continued and he was able to share that with his kids, including a favorite camping spot at Woods Canyon Lake. 

Michael joined Friends of the Tonto (FOT) in 2015 with his daughter so she could complete volunteer hours for high school and his passion for the FOT’s conservation work has grown year after year.  Michael’s primary project has been Invasive Grass Removal but he has also participated in the Riparian Photopoint, Milkweed Planting and now Saguaro Monitoring. 

Michael’s professional career has been in restaurant management, customer service and project management, which will be an asset to
the Friends of the Tonto’s public and community outreach efforts.  As a prospective Board Member, Michael’s goal is to further FOT’s mission of promoting public understanding of the Tonto National Forest’s policies, programs and projects. His work, volunteer experiences, skills and passion will be an asset to the organization.

Tammy Teegardin, Board member at-large

I’m Tammy Teegardin and I have lived in this area since the second grade. I
graduated from college with a degree in journalism, minor in public relations,
emphasis in communications. I am retired. I have been with Desert Awareness Committee in the Cave Creek area for 20 years, educating the public on the biodiversity of our fragile Sonoran desert. I have been a hike coordinator and leader and for the last five years have been training staff and volunteers how to give interpretive talks/presentations.

I have my Master Naturalist certification as well as National Association of
Interpreters (NAI) certification. I love engaging audiences and creating and giving presentations that are relevant to all, organized, fun and thematic. I have been with Desert Foothills Chapter, Arizona Archaeology Society on the
board for 15 years. I’ve always had a passion for archaeology.

I have an extensive background in Arizona flora. I work with Maricopa County, training their volunteers on how to give interpretive talks. I am part of the Desert Defender group within the county and help out at their native seed garden often.