Editor,

I wish to please add some information to the ongoing Ebey’s National Historical Reserve Trust Board appointment dispute and explain for Ebey’s NHR’s future it is best if Reserve Manager Marie Shimada remained. I know that’s a big reach, but there were additional truths left out of the June 5 Whidbey News-Times article.

One of those things is that I wrote and spoke before the Island County commissioners out of concern that this appointment would divide the community. The last thing Ebey’s NHR needs is a trust board member who is polarizing, much less one who spoke at a 2018 Sound Defense Alliance fundraiser. As I shared with the Island County Commissioners, I am equally polarizing and Ebey’s NHR model survives on partnerships.

Providing material assistance beyond what the federal Freedom of Information Act requires is collusion, especially when this event provided financial aid to Sound Defense Alliance and possibly others to continue the fight against NAS Whidbey Island. This collusion, alongside emails that then-Ebey’s NHR Reserve Manager Griffin in 2018 worked to scuttle critical Section 106 negotiations in collusion with Citizens of Ebey’s Reserve activists, reduced confidence in Ebey’s NHR ability to collaborate. Again, Ebey’s NHR depends on partnerships.

Finally, I have always believed OLF Coupeville is more important than Ebey’s NHR, and the future of Ebey’s NHR is in partnership with the U.S. Navy. One, OLF Coupeville, was found to be irreplaceable after the Environmental Impact Study I helped petition for. Two, the U.S. Navy provides volunteers to help preserve all of Ebey’s NHR – not just military history but agricultural history, trails and more. Three, with a housing crisis, the OLF’s jet noise keeps Reserve history alive while providing a shield for Ebey’s NHR from further housing development. Through her leadership, the new reserve manager, Marie Shimada, understands these truths.

If Shimada is replaced, the question of Ebey’s NHR’s future will almost certainly be called. The Citizens of Ebey’s Reserve have also made ample statements over the years about Ebey’s NHR incompatibility with OLF Coupeville. I would hate to see us Americans stumble into calling the question again.

Joe A. Kunzler

Skagit County