After a nationwide search, a new person has been selected to manage Ebey’s Landing National Historical Reserve.

Mark Preiss was named reserve manager and he will be introduced to the public during Tuesday’s Trust Board meeting at the Coupeville Recreation Hall beginning at 4 p.m.

Board members were impressed with his leadership skills as well as his background in restoration work and fund raising.

“We found that he was the outstanding leader of the candidates we have,” said Marshall Bronson, member of the Trust Board of Ebey’s Landing.

The reserve conducted two job searches in the past months before finding Preiss. The first one yielded 20 applicants but no acceptable candidates. The second, which was more of a nationwide search, yielded approximately 40 applicants, Bronson said.

Preiss takes over for Rob Harbour, who recently resigned as manager of the 17,000-acre reserve.

Prior to coming to Coupeville, Preiss was executive director of the Wyoming Outdoor Council, based in Lander, Wyo., which is a nonprofit, conservation organization.

Bronson highlighted Preiss’ experience working for the Historic Fourth Ward School, which is a National Historic Landmark, museum and cultural center in Virginia City, Nev. While there he was executive director and managed a five-member staff, 100 volunteers and a $1.2 million budget.

“This will be a fine thing for expanding the picture of the reserve,” Bronson said.

Preiss was impressed with the community’s commitment to the reserve.

“I was interested in having an opportunity in the nation’s first historic reserve,” Preiss said.

He was also intrigued by the comprehensive approach he will have to take managing the reserve.

In addition to preserving the reserve’s character, he will have to tie in numerous other factors, such as economic development and tourism efforts, into his work.

“It’s not a museum, it’s a living landscape,” Preiss said of the reserve.

He has a good blueprint for the reserve’s future. A 15-year general management plan was recently approved and provides a guide on how to proceed.

Preiss, who begins his position Monday, will also be busy meeting with residents to get their perspective on the reserve.

He is also busy settling into Coupeville. He and his wife, Kathryn, and 22-month-old son Jack, recently moved to town and will be looking for a house.