Board Members
Reta Cochrane
Board President
My commitment to this organization’s work is rooted in personal experience. While teaching at Dorena School in 2014, a second-grade student approached me in the hallway, bouncing from foot to foot and urgently asking if he could use another bathroom. When I asked why, he replied, “The gym bathroom is on fire.”
I ran to the restroom and discovered that a fire had started in a wastebasket and had already climbed the wall and begun burning the ceiling. The bathroom walls were covered with plastic sheeting, and thick, heavy black smoke filled the room. I grabbed a fire extinguisher and notified the school office to call 911 and evacuate the building, and began fighting the fire alone. The smoke made it difficult to breathe and see, forcing me to step in and out of the room repeatedly to catch my breath and clear my eyes before continuing. Fortunately no students or staff were harmed. Due to the distance, South Lane Fire & Rescue arrived approximately 40 minutes after the fire was out.
A few years later, on September 5, 2018, the Row River Fire moved quickly through our community, destroying homes and outbuildings. My barn burned down and flames advanced toward my house. Using leaf blowers, students pushed the advancing flames and burning debris back and away from my home. The fire to burn itself out just feet from my home. (News Story)
Experiences like these made it clear to me how vulnerable our valley was without nearby fire protection and helped inspire my work to form the Row River Rural Fire ProtectionDistrict.
Art Alexander
Board Treasurer
Art brings decades of financial and business experience to the organization. A retired auditor, he has a long history of community service and volunteer leadership, including significant involvement in youth sports and community development projects throughout Lane County.
Jennifer Ferraez
Board Member
Jennifer moved “upriver” in August 2019, fulfilling her dream of living along the Row River Trail, where she could cycle, access good water, and grow a large garden. She quickly fell in love with the woods and the Row River Valley community.
Just a few months after settling in, a chimney fire erupted while she was home alone. She tried to put it out but was unsuccessful and called 911. To her surprise, she was asked whether she had a “fire protection agreement.” She did not know what that meant. She was then asked if she would like South Lane Fire to respond for a fee. Of course she said yes.
As smoke filled the house, she waited. It took over 30 minutes for help to arrive. When South Lane Fire reached her home, they extinguished the fire quickly and professionally. Jennifer realized she had assumed there would be a fire station just minutes away, as there had been everywhere else she had lived. That was not the case here.
About two years later, Jennifer shared her experience with Ryan Thompson, now a volunteer firefighter, who introduced her to a small group of community members exploring how to build a fire station upriver. She attended a meeting and met Scott Byler, Walt Bernard, Reta Cochrane, and Katherine Reinecke. When they learned of her background in social organizing, they invited her to join the effort.
As she came to understand that the Row River Valley was one of the most unprotected rural residential areas in Lane County, Jennifer saw the issue clearly. This was about safety and making sure people living upriver had access to emergency protection. Her commitment grew to help protect the community she had come to call home.
RRVCP Staff Members
Kathleen Istudor
Executive Director
Kathleen lived in Belgium and Singapore and traveled extensively before falling in love with Rural Oregon and making it home. Her background includes managing an electrical engineering firm and working in technology and sales. After returning to the United States, she built a business in data collection, web development and internet marketing.
Kathleen joined Row River Fire Response as a board member in 2022 and worked alongside residents during the effort to establish the Row River Rural Fire Protection District. In late 2024, she became Executive Director and now leads the Row River Valley Community Partnership and its growing work across the valley.
Laura Bee
Programs/Communications
My great-grandfather fought the Tillamook Burn, a massive fire that scorched 350,000 acres from 1933 to 1951. A logger by trade, he shared unforgettable stories of that disaster, one that made global headlines. I did not know then that I would one day face fire in my own way.
My own encounter with fire came as a resident of Talent during the 2020 Alameda Fire, which raced 20 miles in four hours. From my rooftop, I watched flames sweep through the valley like wind-driven rapids while aircraft roared overhead and propane tanks exploded into the night. My neighborhood became a shelter zone. I helped guide trapped people to safety and cared for injured animals after the burn. I lost my bees.
That fire taught me how quickly chaos comes, how vital community becomes, and how communication can fail when it is needed most. Since then, I have committed to learning all I can about wildfire, preparedness, and resilience. I live with go-bags, solar batteries, water storage, and a rule to never let my gas tank fall below half. I am slowly mitigating our overgrown land and shaping our lives around fire season.
I am grateful to be part of RRVCP and its mission to protect this valley. The Row River and its living landscape have captured my heart. The people here, sturdy, friendly, and full of can-do spirit, inspire me. I am here to serve, to organize, and to help us grow stronger together.
