Everybody is happy with a deal that will conserve a 46-acre property at the eastern part of Ebey’s Landing National Historic Reserve.

Preservationists will see a large wooded area protected, Island Transit will get some land to expand its facilities, and the Navy’s Outlying Field will get protection from encroaching development.

The property in question is the Plum Creek conifer seed orchard that was going to be put on the market last spring.

The orchard is located on Smith Prairie just inside the reserve and has been used as a conifer seed orchard for the past 30 years. The seeds are used for reforestation efforts. The property is an ideal conifer site and such properties are decreasing because they are converted to other uses, according to information provided by the Whidbey Camano Land Trust.

Because the property is located within the high noise zone for Outlying Field, the Land Trust and the Navy worked together to preserve the property.

“We feel very fortunate we’ve been able to make that happen,” said Pat Powell, executive director of the Whidbey Camano Land Trust during an event Thursday afternoon at the Plum Creek property commemorating the deal’s completion.

Capt. Syd Abernethy, commanding officer of the Whidbey Island Naval Air Station, said creative and innovative partnerships helped seal the deal.

“It’s a win, win, win, win, win,” Abernethy said of the organizations benefiting from the transaction.

Outlying Field is used by pilots to practice carrier landings. To help protect such facilities from encroachment, Congress expanded the Private Lands Initiative to allow the military to work with government and private organizations to establish buffer areas around active training and testing areas.

“This is a new tool to help us address encroachment,” Abernethy said in a written statement. “It allows all military installations to work with concerned partners to encumber land and protect valuable training areas like OLF without bringing new land into military fee ownership.”

The Whidbey Camano Land Trust purchased the property Oct. 31 from Plum Creek Timberlands for approximately $600,000. The Land Trust then sold a deed of restrictive easement to the US Navy and sold nearly eight acres of the property to Island Transit, which will help with expansion efforts.

Powell said it was sensible for Island Transit to acquire some land for expansion. Island Transit needs the space and it helps reduce land conversion by keeping Island Transit’s facilities in one location. Island Transit will have to maintain a vegetative screen to protect views from Highway 20, which is a National Scenic Byway.

The Land Trust is looking to sell the remaining 38 acres of Navy-encumbered land to someone interested in maintaining agricultural production. Powell said the Land Trust will place a conservation easement on the property limiting future use on the property to forestry.

Marshall Bronson, chair of Ebey’s Trust Board, said during the event the board backs such preservation efforts 100 percent. He added the land deal also protects the water supply on Central Whidbey Island because the Plum Creek property is the beginning of the aquifer recharge area.