Editor,

First, I want to say I dislike writing letters, but I can no longer remain silent. I am dismayed by what is happening to the dike and meadow north of Oak Harbor.

To those of you who are unaware of the dike, when you drive north on State Highway 20, you see the fruit stand at Dugualla Flats. If you look to the east, you see a beautiful meadow used for grazing cattle and growing blueberries and other crops. It includes a lovely fresh-water pond where ducks and swans spend their lives.

Years ago, some very enterprising people built the dike to reclaim the land from the ocean. It was to be used for farming. Now, some people want to tear down the dike, build a bridge and let ocean water back in to flood this wonderful area.

What is to become of the meadow farms, cattle and the house that is now there at the same level?

I noticed the other day as I drove over the dike that the pond is getting larger and larger. Flooding already started?

Come on, Oak Harbor and Island County, can’t we stop this? I faintly heard years ago that someone was thinking of this but heard nothing more until two months ago.

What about the people who farm there? What about the delicious blueberries we’ve been eating all these years? What about the house built on the same level? What about the cattle grazing and raising their young?

Remember a few years back Ala Spit? Again, some enterprising people with foresight placed large rocks on the east side. They held back the ocean, just a little, but made a lovely place to walk, go clamming, walk the dog, build beach forts or just enjoy a time with nature.

I’m not certain, but I think it’s these same people who wanted to make Ala Spit back to the way it was and help the salmon. Well, they destroyed it. Its just a pile of dirt, and it’s unsafe.

Are we going to let them do the same on Dugualla Flats?

Carley Knapp

Oak Harbor