About the Friends

The Friends are a group of volunteers who are passionate about the Willamette Valley National Wildlife Refuges, and who love and appreciate the refuge lands, flora, and fauna as natural resources which deserve to be cherished and protected. The Friends come from all walks of life, but all their different backgrounds have in common this love for nature. While the Friends promote and represent the refuges at various events around the valley, their goals, first and foremost, are to directly support the refuge complex achieve its conservation and restoration goals and to foster awareness and appreciation for the refuges through recreational and educational opportunities. Read on to meet our Board of Directors and learn more about the Friends community!

Board Members

Jill Scofield, Treasurer and Interim President

Jill recently retired from a 28 year career with the Oregon Department of Transportation, where she managed the budget, finances, and federal grants for the Technical Services Branch.  She has recently become an Oregon Master Naturalist, with an emphasis in the Willamette Valley ecoregion.  She is also an Oregon Master Gardener and a Marion County Master Recycler.  Jill holds a BS in Art from Oregon State University and a BS in Psychology from Portland State University.  She is an animal lover and has a Beagle named Toby and a tabby cat named Kiki.  Jill is a born and bred Oregonian who loves to travel, read, and paint in oils.  She relishes hiking, exploring Oregon’s varied and vast territory, and studying the region’s geology.

Ron Forrester, Secretary

Ron attended 7th-9th grade (1977-1980) in the heart of the Willamette Valley in Amity, Oregon, and enjoyed those idyllic years fishing and exploring the oak prairies and forests as a teenager. Life then took him to Phoenix, AZ, where he counted the years before he could return to that beautiful land of his childhood in 1997. Ron now works as a leader in software technology, but loves to spend his free time continuing to explore the wild spaces of Oregon. He recently became serious about bird photography, which led him to discover the wonderful wildlife refuges of the central Willamette Valley and the incredible diversity of birds, insects, and mammals these wild-spaces provide for. When he’s not working or behind a camera, Ron and his wife explore and manage their 40-acre forest land outside Vernonia, OR, and tend to their wonderful certified native-habitat backyard in SW Portland. They love camping, hiking, kayaking, mountain biking, and generally just being in the wild. They’re also kept busy by their two teenaged children, dog, three cats, two guinea pigs, and bearded dragon!

Diane Young, Board Member

Diane has been a resident of Benton County since 1978. Purchasing and managing 26 acres of Douglas Firs in 1992 has made her realize the joyful yet hard work that goes into maintaining a healthy ecosystem. Prior experiences of living on 40 acres without the benefit of electricity or running water for many years has given Diane a love of silence which she now finds at Finley Wildlife Refuge. Diane lives in South Corvallis with her husband, and knowing that silence is just a short ride away, has prompted her to join this board.

Cynthia Donald, Membership

Cynthia studied at the University of Illinois, Arizona State University and the University of Arizona where she received a BLA (Bachelor of Landscape Architecture). Although a registered Landscape Architect in Arizona and New Mexico, she rarely practiced that art in the traditional sense, preferring to concentrate on land planning and the legal issues involving land development. Cynthia was a regional director of planning and landscape architecture for a major US company and, later, a partner in two companies, one of which was a firm specializing in civil engineering, land planning and surveying. She has been involved in numerous boards of directors, with homeowner associations, professional business associations and volunteer organizations such as Audubon chapters. Having traveled widely, she volunteer taught two levels of birding classes for Sun City Grand and the Desert Botanical Garden, both in the Phoenix, AZ area. A long time love affair with nature led to interests in ecology, birding, hiking, travel and exploration of different cultures. Having lived in Virginia, Kansas, Germany, Illinois, Arizona and now Oregon, she relishes new experiences and meeting new friends. She currently lives in South Salem with 7 parrots.

Jennifer Butler, Newsletter Editor

Jennifer was born and raised in the Willamette Valley.  She has been a Biology lab educator and stockroom manager at Willamette University for the last 20 years.  She’s led students on natural history hikes through Baskett Slough and coordinated a science outreach program.  Jennifer has research experience in conservation genetics of rare plant populations, pollination biology and restoration ecology.  After completing her MS in Ecology from UConn, she volunteered and worked as a park naturalist and in native land restoration through the Student Conservation Association and at Olympic National Park.  She has led student groups on trips to Ecuador’s Tropical Rainforest and the Galapagos. Jennifer loves hiking, camping and wildlife watching, especially in the Pacific Northwest.

Steve Suckow, Website Manager

Steve is a lifelong lover of nature and wildlife as well as an amateur wildlife photographer and birder. In 2016, he retired from a 33 year career at Boeing where he designed control electronics for satellites and other spacecraft.  After his retirement, Steve moved to Corvallis so that he could be closer to the natural areas that he loves.  He has spent countless hours roaming Finley, Ankeny, and Baskett Slough, enjoying the scenery and taking photos.  He joined the Friends organization so that he could help protect and improve these wonderful natural places, both for the wildlife and for the people that visit.  Along with photography and birding, Steve enjoys cycling and hiking in the many beautiful locations that Oregon has to offer.

Rebecca Cashero, Outreach Coordinator & Social Media

Rebecca has a history of volunteering for various nonprofit organizations and habitat restoration projects since childhood. She also has fund raising experience with the Fund for the Nature Conservancy.

In 2020 she completed a Master’s in Environment and Community at Cal Poly Humboldt. During her thesis work, she gained experience in collaborative community development and understanding of how community groups can accomplish their goals. During this time, she also worked for a Pacific Northwest based nonprofit to recruit new members, engage community partners and further that organization’s goals of creating justice, equity, diversity, and in inclusion in outdoor spaces. She also has experience creating a quarterly newsletter for that organization.

Rebecca currently serves on Springfield’s Community Development Advisory Committee and is active in civic engagement here in her home in the Willamette Valley. She is employed by Oregon State University, where she works in facilities operation and maintenance management. Her duties include working to help create a more sustainable campus community.

Rebecca will be using her extensive experience and skill sets to help promote our Willamette Valley refuges and to help further the Friends’ mission of promoting conservation of the refuge resources and fostering awareness and appreciation of the refuges through educational and recreational opportunities.

Erin Forrester, Board Member

Erin is a practiced Willamette Valley gardener and naturalist with a strong affinity for pnw native plants and critters of all shapes and sizes. She is a certified Oregon Master Naturalist through Oregon State University, with a focus on the Willamette Valley ecoregion. When not at home, she and her husband, Ron, spend their time exploring Oregon, with a keen eye for dragonflies, birds, herps, lichen and native plants. Erin and Ron have a large home garden and Certified Backyard Habitat through Portland Audubon’s Backyard Habitat Certification Program, where Erin also volunteers as a site certifier for other habitats. They have 40 acres of land in Vernonia, Oregon that they preserve and explore and are thrilled to house a thriving population of the protected Northern Red-Legged Frog, and countless other native species. She’s crazy about dragonflies and working to find and photograph all species in Oregon! At home, Ron and Erin look after their two teenagers, dog, cats, guinea pigs and spoiled bearded dragon. Erin holds a BS in Applied Mathematics from the University of Texas at Austin and works as a Director of Technology Program Management. She is delighted to apply these skills and her passion to help the Friends Board support our beautiful refuges!

Vacant Positions

There are several vacancies on our Board… and there’s no better time to get more involved!

No prior experience is required. If you are interested in volunteering or serving on our Board, please contact our Secretary at secretary.friends@gmail.com.

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