Editor,

I am a long-time property owner on Whidbey Island. Our property, which we have owned for more than 40 years, is located within the Whidbey Ebey’s Landing National Historical Reserve.

Also, it was part of the original Fort Casey property.

The historical reserve is a true national treasure and deserves to be protected, as such — now and in the long term.

I spent more than 35 years planning and developing airports across the United States. For 13 years, I was head of the FAA’s airport program for the northwestern part of the U.S.

There is no good reason for conducting more than 24,000 operations of touch-and-go activity in the national historical reserse, thereby destroying that national treasure.

A large portion of that practice/activity could be conducted at Fallon, Nev., in a very low population environment with no nearby national treasures.

The time has come for the Navy to use some common sense and come up with a reasonable solution.

If it is necessary to have a very dark area to practice in, you could go to an empty valley about 10-15 miles from the the base at Fallon, and build a bounce field in such an empty valley, and practice in a very dark area.

When one considers the cost of the Growler aircraft, the cost of the a simple bounce field in such a dark location would be considerbly less than the cost of one Growler aircraft.

Robert O. Brown

Coupeville