WHIDBEY ISLAND, Washington (STPNS) -- As the national park in our backyards turns 30, it's a chance to celebrate the success story initiated by a small group of local folks with a passion for preserving the beauty of Central Whidbey - and a time to size up the challenges that lie ahead.

For the United States, and the world, 1971 was a big year. The United Arab Emirates became a country, international rock legend Jim Morrison was found dead in a bathtub in Paris, and Walt Disney World opened its doors in Florida.

But it was also a divisive year for America. Richard Nixon was president and The New York Times began publishing the Pentagon Papers. Controversy over the war in Vietnam had reached a crescendo and had polarized the nation.



In Central Whidbey, a battle of much smaller proportions - but of no less passion - was raging in the pastoral fields of Ebey's Prairie. A land dispute was tearing the community apart.

In 1971, local residents came together to oppose the proposed development of the prairie, a picturesque sweep of farmland that had remained largely unchanged since the 1850s.

The issue would embroil the community in a quarrel so sensitive, people who had been friends and neighbors for generations refused to acknowledge each other at the grocery store at Prairie Center.

Yet out of the turmoil, a treasure was born. The only national park of its kind, Ebey's Landing National Historical Reserve has for the past 30 years struggled to maintain a balance between preserving both the area's cultural heritage and protecting landowners' property rights.

While most agree the Reserve has proved an overwhelming success, growing development pressure within its borders once again threatens to draw the community into turmoil, leaving some wondering just what the next 30 years will bring.

A rocky start

In the spring of 1970, the old Island County courthouse was packed with people attending a public hearing concerning a request to rezone 124 acres of beachfront property along Ebey's Landing.

The property was part of the original Isaac Ebey land claim, staked out in 1850 by Ebey himself. The Smith family had purchased the tract in 1917, but by the late 1960s, financial hardship prompted brothers George and Knight Smith to seek to develop the property.

News of their plan spread quickly, and many local residents who attended the public hearing were opposed to the project. Despite the voiced concerns, the Island County Board of Commissioners approved the Smith application.

But that decision did little to settle the matter. In fact, it served to galvanize the will and determination of many local residents, including Joan McPherson, who is now an attorney in Coupeville.

As a newcomer to town, McPherson was hesitant to tell longtime residents what they should do with their property. But the thought of the seeing the views of the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the Olympic Mountains blocked by rows of condominiums was too much to bear.

"It just struck me as wrong," McPherson said. "I couldn't just not do anything." About a year later, McPherson founded a citizens group called Whidbey Island National Seashore, and welcomed people into her Coupeville home for public meetings.

After failing to convince the commissioners to make the area a national seashore park, McPherson began a letter-writing campaign. Letters were sent to organizations and Congressmen, anyone that could help. She even wrote to President Nixon, inviting him to visit the area and stay at her house.

"I got a really nice letter back that said he couldn't possibly make it because of his busy schedule," she said.

McPherson and her husband, Jack, moved to Oregon a short time later. But before she left, she gave a box of "stuff" to Jimmie Jean Cook, a Coupeville resident with a passion for preserving local history. Cook vowed to continue where McPherson had left off.

The McPhersons returned to Coupeville in 1974 only to discover that the citizens group had disbanded, but the effort to preserve the land was still going strong. While McPherson was never to take a central role again, the battle continued to save the Isaac Ebey land claim, and later Keystone Spit, from development.

McPherson was one of many people and groups that dedicated themselves to the effort. Groups like Friends of Ebey's and SWIFT - Save Whidbey Island For Tomorrow - and individuals such as Al and Phyllis Sherman, Al Heath, Al and Maureen Ryan, Ken Pickard, Doug and Tanis Marsh, Ned and Pat Johnston, Barbara James, Paul Pederson and U.S. Representative Lloyd Meeds would all play instrumental roles in the creation of the Reserve, which President Jimmy Carter signed into law on Nov. 10, 1978.

30 years of preservation

Since its inception, the Reserve has remained one of a kind. While it is just one of more than 50 national parks, it's the only one governed by a partnership of four public agencies: the National Park Service, Washington State Parks, Island County and the Town of Coupeville. A trust board, made up members from all four agencies, oversees the management of the park.

"The idea of being managed by a trust board is unique," Reserve Manager Mark Preiss said.

Several other factors also make the park distinct. Some 85 percent of its 17,500 acres is privately owned. And within the Reserve is a thriving small town and several state and county parks.

But these peculiarities are no accident. They exist because the Reserve was never designed to be your average national park. According to its general management plan, the Reserve's purpose is to "preserve and protect the cultural landscape and to commemorate the history of a rural community... in the context of a living, working and changing community."

People must remember that the Reserve is not a snapshot in time, but a working landscape, Preiss said.

"Every generation has the opportunity to put their imprint on this canvas we call Ebey's Reserve," he said.

The Reserve's paramount goal of preservation can't be achieved at the expense of a landowner's property rights. The Reserve's mission isn't just to preserve cultural heritage, but to maintain it.

Instead of buying land outright, a practice that is expensive and impractical, development has been limited through the purchase of development rights by way of scenic easements.

Al Sherman, a longtime farmer and a current member of the Reserve Trust Board, was one of the very first people to become alarmed about the Smiths' plans for development. He was also the first local farmer to sell the development rights on his land.

Sherman said preservation without stomping on property rights has always been a delicate dance. For example, attempts to convince Robert Pratt, who owned hundreds of acres of prairie and woodlands, to sell his development rights never succeeded. Sherman recalled that when he asked if he was willing, Pratt's response was to say that it was all a Communist plot.

"So you can see, people were kind of suspicious," Sherman said.

Today, most of the land in Ebey's and Crockett prairies remains under private ownership, and much of it is being farmed. Almost all of it is permanently protected with scenic easements.

"We have a lot to be proud of," Sherman said. "Just look out the window."

The future of the Reserve

Sherman is not alone in his belief that the Reserve has been a success. Coupeville native Ken Pickard, whose role in the Reserve's creation was so instrumental that it may not ever have become a reality if he hadn't gotten involved, said the Reserve is more than what he'd hoped for.

"All I was trying to do was save the prairie and the bluff; mission accomplished," Pickard said.

But what of the Reserve's future? What will the next 30 years bring? Pickard and Sherman both note that not all the land in the Reserve is protected. In fact, additional development is likely inevitable.

"To say there isn't more development coming would be naïve," Sherman said. Reserve Manager Mark Preiss confirmed that only about a third of the Reserve has been permanently protected, and that includes Fort Ebey and Fort Casey state parks. The Reserve is peppered with parcels that can be developed, including some in Ebey's and Crockett prairies - the scenic heart of the Reserve.

"In some ways, the preservation of the area is its own worst enemy," said Rob Harbour, former Reserve manager.

By protecting large tracts of land with scenic easements, the remaining open land became more valuable and more tempting to develop. Parcels on prairies with sweeping views could be especially vulnerable.

The recent controversy over a building permit mistakenly approved by the county for a large home to be built by Coupeville residents Ian and Karen Jefferds is an example of that. The Jefferds lot is a developable island surrounded by a sea of open land that's protected by scenic easements.

"Now more than ever, we need a strong review process," Harbour said.

The controversy over the Jefferds permit contributed to a recent effort by public officials to take a second look at development regulations in the Reserve. According to Coupeville Mayor Nancy Conard, officials from the Town of Coupeville, Island County and the Reserve are engaged in discussions about the existing regulations. She said she hopes the talks will result in clearer rules and, possibly, a uniform process.

"People want predictability," Conard said. How development is allowed to proceed will be key to preserving Central Whidbey's cultural landscape, Preiss said. But while regulation that encourages responsible development is necessary, it's not everything.

"How it's tended, cared for and sustained is, in large measure, a responsibility shared by the local residents and trust board partners," he said.

Educating the public about the Reserve is one of the primary reasons the Trust Board decided to organize the first-ever Ebey's Forever Conference, set for Nov. 7 and 8.

While the two-day event is meant to commemorate the Reserve's 30th anniversary, the educational workshops, field trips and guest speakers are all aimed at fostering a strong sense of stewardship, Preiss said.

"In order to want to protect something, we first need to understand it."