ࡱ> _a^@ pjbjbqq "j%l8 <HH"jjjEEEIKKKKKK, wEEEEEw jjH E"jjI EI --4jLg2---v v-  EBEYS LANDING: THE FORGOTTEN JEWEL IN THE QUEENS NECKLACE. John J. Reynolds Ebeys Forever Conference Coupeville, WA November 8, 2008 Ebeys Landing National Historical Reserve. Lets begin by thinking of what this place, and the pieces of this place mean to youand me. The viewsthe Olympics to the west, and the Cascades to the east. With the waters of many moods in between. A prairie, big enough to be sweeping. Food from the landsustenance. Homeshomes over a very long period of time. Homes of Indians, settlers, old timers and newcomers. Buildings as a part of landscape. A vibrant town, with pride of present and pride of future. Delicious world famous mussels and oysters. A sand spit. Bluffs. Sky, day and night. Trails. A military history and presence. A place to visit, to be seen, to be experienced. An economic engine. A cultural landscape. A heritage. A place that was, still is, and will be. A place to liveand grow upand die. Communitya community of people stitched together by what Ebeys Landing National Historic Reserve is and can bepast, present and future. A placea real, valued, important placeto you who live here, and to me, from afar. A place in imagination and in reality. A placea living real place. A place of history and a place of possibility. A few years back I gave a talk to a group of National Park Service employees. It was entitled A National Sense of Place. Its purpose was to demonstrate that the totality of the units of the now 391 units of the National Park System combine to create for all of us togetherand each of us individuallya commonly held but greatly diverse heritage that reflects who and what we are as a nation and as a societya national sense of place. As I have thought more on the subject since then I would amend this thought to add to the mix the 40 National Heritage Areas and the 80,000 or so places on the National Register of Historic Places. We are a richly endowed nation and people, indeed. Our national heritage surrounds usas a national community and right here. This weekend we are all gathered here to celebrate the creation of one of those places, a place which includes, by the way, several places on the National Register. Creation did not come easyand I daresay that making the creation work has not come easy either, and will probably never be easy. I want to celebrate the creation of Ebeys Landing National Historical Reserve, but I want even more to talk about where Ebeys fits in the evolutionary milieu of conservation and protection of beloved places in this country. To begin with, it seems to me that Ebeys is the forgotten jewel in the queens necklace. It is the one on the clasp, which no one sees beneath the bobbing, flowing hair. But it is there, and though not seen by most, its beauty is startling and sublime. Also, on examination, it is not an afterthought, but is part and parcel of the whole. This is the Ebeys that I see. Most of you here know far better than I do the clash that erupted over the future of the Prairie in 1970. In that wonderfully readable and evocative administrative history, An Unbroken Historical Record: Ebeys Landing National Historical Reserve, Laura McKinley begins Chapter Four by saying, This story began simply enough, with one familys decision in 1970 to rezone a portion of their farm. When first I read that simple sentence, my soul was taken directly to a line that resonates deeply inside of me. It is the opening line of Karen Blixen aka Isak Dinesens Out of Africa: I had a farm in Africa at the foot of the Ngong Hills What an evocative line: I had a farm in Africa I have been there and I still feel the pull inside me right now, in my minds eye and my hearts soul. It is a special place and not unlike Ebeys Landing in the quiet passion it evokes. Karen Blixens story continues: In the day-time you felt that you had got high up, near to the sun, but the early mornings and evenings were limpid and restful, and the nights were cold. the land combined to create a landscape that had not its like in all the worldit was Africa distilledlike the strong and defined essence of a continentThe views were immensely wide. Everything that you saw made for greatness and freedom, and unequaled nobility. The chief feature of the landscape, and of your life in it was the airyou are struck by your feeling of having lived for a time up in the airit has a blue vigour (sic) in ityou breathed easily, drawing in a vital assurance and lightness of heartyou woke up in the morning and thought: Here I am, where I ought to be. We might easily describe Ebeys in a similar wayThis story began simply enough, with one familys decision Why would such a simple, common American decision start this story? I think, and I bet Laura McKinley would agree, though historically accurate, emotionally this was not the beginning of the story. The story began because Ebeys Prairie did to people here, likely including the people who needed to subdivide their land in 1970, what the Ngong Hills did to Karen Blixen. Wikipedia describes her book as a lyrical meditationa tribute to some of the people who touched her lifea vivid snapshot of African Colonial life. I submit to you that the story of Ebeys Prairie, and of Ebeys Landing National Reserve as a whole, is an ongoing 30-year old lyrical meditationa tribute to the people touched by it, and a vivid continuing living story of life in a deeply special place. And as such the story began long before the public dispute which led to the creation of the national reserve. It began in human terms with the Indians, and then again in 1850, when Isaac Ebey decided to respond to his feelings about this place and staked his claim in 1850. It is then that the jewel in the queens necklace began to be formed. In 1970, its luster began to show through, and the pulls and tugs of the public mind, the debate over its future, began. And it is then that begins the tie between Ebeys Landing and the evolution of Americas conservation movement. Ebeys Landing is in many ways the forgotten player in this evolution, the forgotten jewel in the queens necklace. It has been shoved aside in telling the story because it is small, and it is in the West. The history of conserving living landscapes in this country has largely, though not entirely, been played out in the East, and the northeast in particular, where increase in population and development pressure has come in direct conflict with desire to maintain quality of life and sense of place, to not lose the tie between this and future generations with their history, and to do so in a way which does not exclude community and a shared sense of caring. It has taken place mostly where there is little public land; in that regard much like Whidbey Island as compared to the western states mainland. The most remarkable thing about the people here in this part of Whidbey Island and Coupeville, plus a few unusual people in public agencies, particularly the National Park Service and the US Congress, is that you created this Reserve in a form fully out of character with the prevailing attitudes in western conservation at the time. And you did so at a time when doing this kind of thing anywhere was in its embryonic conceptual stage. Lets look a bit at the history. One of the most knowledgeable individuals about the history of the evolution of the coming together of nature conservation, historic preservation and community is Glenn Eugster, now retired from the National Capital Region of the National Park Service. One of his areas of knowledge lies in the evolution of the heritage area movement. He begins a 2003 article in Forum Journal titled Evolution of the Heritage Area Movement saying: Tracing the evolution of heritage areas in the U.S. is a daunting and inherently leaky task that calls to mind D.W. Meings paper, The Beholding Eye: Ten Versions of the Same Scene . As Eugster goes on in the article, he says, Themovement began, arguably, in a dozen different places and points in time. The approach that is being used in hundreds of places evolved from a number of separate but related conservation, historic preservation, land-use, and economic development movements. He traces the movements early roots to the 1949 creation of the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the 1966 National Historic Preservation Act. And then he is quick to point out that (t)he heritage area approach being used today, however, is much more than historic preservation and cultural resource conservation. And then he gets right to the point that I think brings Ebeys Landing right smack into focus here today, 30 years after its creation. He says: The keystone philosophies that hold these elements together and create the synergy that is a signature of these places include advocacy and civic engagement, a place-based focus, interdisciplinary approaches to planning and action, interpretation, and heritage tourism. Heritage areas are an expression of the resurgence of democracy in America and the traditions of home rule. They illustrate the ability of economic leaders to broaden their focus to be able to integrate their goals with those of other interests and disciplines, thus creating a synergy with greater benefits to everyoneHeritage gives people visions of the past, present and future. Heritage areas have a heart, soul, and human spirit that many traditional master plans, and land use and zoning ordinances lack. Heritage areas allow people to claim these places and make our communities, landscapes and regions relevant to the (people) they serve. Glenn Eugster wrote that in 2003. Ebeys was created in 1978. How could Ebeys Landing not be a progenitor, a catalyst, to such thinking? It is. Perhaps not to the many struggling back east where I now live to have both a history and a future evident in their lives, but surely in the evolution of the idea. Another thread is the national park idea. Most of our national parks are places owned and operated entirely by the National Park Servicethe federal government. They were first created straight out of the federal domainfirst the Yosemite Grant to the State of California by Abraham Lincoln in 1864 in the midst of the Civil War for park purposes (which eventually became Yosemite National Park) and then the creation of Yellowstone National Park out of whole cloth in 1872. The pattern was set and held for a long time, even to the point of accepting Shenandoah and Great Smoky Mountains National Parks into the national park system only after the states had acquired all the land and given it to the United States as whole parks. The pattern continued until suddenly in 1963 Congress brought Cape Cod National Seashore into the System allowing for the first time private property to remain private under specified conditions. Communities were to remain. A titanic mutation occurred in the genetics of national conservation. Only seven years later the story that began simply enough here at Ebeys Landing began. The next seven years are a story that you know far better than I do, as you here on Whidbey Island have lived it. I was struck by a quote in Laura McKinleys administrative history that added emotion to historical fact. Albert Heath is quoted as saying in 1970, That (the size and density of the proposed development affecting the Prairie) suddenly made me an environmentalist. As I read that I wondered if in more modern terms he might have called himself a heritage-ist. Might have his thoughts, however visceral, been more about the common heritage of this place than just of the environment, especially as we understood environmentalism in 1970? Maybe, maybe not. But a movement was birthing. A movement as difficult as any democratic movement that leads to defining a common understanding about how we want to live and what we want our quality of life to be. At the same time, elsewhere, others were struggling with similar battles about the places they loved. People in New Jersey were trying to save the Pine Barrens, which contrary to popular view is a rich, varied ecosystem lying atop one of the nations largest and purest aquifers. But some wanted to bulldoze an airport in it, among other big development ideas. Back west, in southern California, advocates for saving the Santa Monica Mountains which rise over the Malibu beaches were battling for how to combine their nature and history, and their air, with communities. And up here, in a much smaller place, a thoughtful Congressman, Lloyd Meeds, stepped in to help. According to Laura McKinley, no one knows for sure how Congressman Meeds got the idea for a Reserve. But get it he did. And thanks to Senator Jackson, Congressman Phil Burton from California who was the architect of the biggest omnibus bill to affect the National Park Service in history, and Congressman Meeds, the Reserve was created, along with Pine Barrens National Reserve in New Jersey and Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area in California. The significance of these three areas being created, with Ebeys Landing and Santa Monica Mountains being added to the National Park System but the Pine Barrens not, has to my knowledge never been traced. It is certainly true that most of the folks in the National Park Service were not wild fans of these strange parks. I worked at Santa Monica Mountains for the first five years of its existence. Had it not been for Director Bill Whalen and the California Congressional delegation, it might not have survived as part of the national park system. Secretary of the Interior James Watt tried to get it deauthorized. And from the bits and pieces that I know about that time in history at Ebeys Landing, it was not entirely a highly supportive time up here either by some in the National Park Service. Maybe this is as good a place as any to recognize a couple of people from my bureaucratic blood line, that of the National Park Service. First, above all others, and he is here today, is Reed Jarvis. Reed understood the value of these places in the heritage of this country and of you here on Whidbey Island, and he knew from the start this was as good of an experiment for the future as could be found anywhere. And you all know better than I do how much he gave to the idea, the place, and its people. I am very proud to have known him in my career, though I never had the chance to work directly with him. He is a unique and wonderful intellect, and very a human man. Ebeys Landing may never have survived the National Park Service without him. The other person is Harlan Hobbs, Reeds sidekick in making this complicated opportunity work in spite of bureaucratic and financial difficulty. I was privileged to get to work with Harlan at North Cascades National Park, and know how well his intellect and plain old craftiness served Ebeys Landing, Reed Jarvis and you who lived here well. Public servants of this high caliber usually do not seek public recognition of their hard, unstinting work for the greater good, but these two deserve it. They are a team I would have liked to have worked with anywhere, any time. I know that the other side of this coin is the local people who dedicated themselves to making this thing work. I dont know you, though I briefly met some of you one day long ago in the mid-1980s at a luncheon meeting across from the Ferry landing at Keystone Cafe. So I wont make a fool of myself by trying to name you, and will hope that through the course of this conference you will be recognized, as was begun last night at the wonderful potluck dinner. If not for you, even the efforts of Reed and Harlan would have been for naught. Now, lets talk about the significance of this place in the greater movements to keep our common heritage alive across the country. Where does Ebeys landing fit? First, I think it is significant because it happened in the west, where these kinds of solutions were not much part of the lexicon of conservation or preservation, then or even now. All these 30 years Ebeys Landing has worked to persevere. It has not been easy, but you continue to succeed. And in doing so you are a western example of evolving ways to treat the intersections of community, economy, lands and history. All of us know that we are not always keen on solutions from other places. We often say, Well, its fine for them, but it really does not fit here. Having succeeded for 30 years leaves you with a distinction of being the gold standard in the west for heritage concepts such as this. No one will do it the same anywhere else, but the rest of the nation and your peers in the West can see you out here. Second, I think that there is a direct link between the Ebeys Landing solution and what is being recognized as the best and most workable solutions in the burgeoning heritage area movement. Recent evaluations of heritage areas have shown that the most successful ones have some deep and permanent relationship with the National Park Service. This usually takes one or both of two forms: either there is a national park unit within the heritage area as its core or there is strong, permanent Park Service programming and interpretation. Ebeys Landing is a hybridthe mutation I referred to earlier that may well have had something to do with these other successful formulations. Ebeys is not only a Reserve, it is a unit and has a permanent Park Service relationship. As a result, I believe one line of evolution of the national conservation movement starts here at Ebeys landing. Third, Ebeys Landing has been instructional for the National Park Service, particularly in the West. What started out being seen as perhaps the new unwanted child left on the doorstep is now seen as a bright star, a successful partnership, maybe even a model to look most carefully at as we move into the future elsewhere. I want to be sure I say this now. One of the big reasons you may be a model to look at is because you have survived the inevitable hard interactions inherent in this kind of endeavor. You have grown as a Trust, as a community, and as a unit of the National Park System. Your survival has been both satisfying and tough. Your growth together must be a source of great satisfaction and pride even though it has been difficult at times. The sheer fact that you are still at it, that your modes of interaction with each other have worked and matured, that you somehow always have made it through the difficult times, and that you are strong and proud enough of yourselves to have this conference is testament to your caring, and your success. You are living, breathing proof that it can be done. I was fascinated by the newspaper reports of last summer in which some were publicly questioning whether or not the Reserve should continue to exist as a result of a permitting issue. My fascination lay not in the fact that incidents happen that reignite the passion of the Reserve, but in the fact that the passion is still there. That the passion is still there, that you care enough to have at it now and then, is the best testament to the Reserve and its partners I can think of. The fourth point of significance is the working relationship between the National Park Service and the Washington state parks. The relationship that was mandated here was forerunner to the voluntary agreements between the National Park Service and California State Parks and Redwood National Park and Golden Gate and Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Areas. It also is precedent for the legislation and cooperative arrangements between the National Park Service and the Washington and Oregon state parks at Lewis and Clark National Historical Park. The fifth significant thing about Ebeys is the idea of a trust to manage a national park. That was unique in 1978. But it laid a bit of the foundation for an idea that I think may gain greater foothold in the future. I believe that the next Trust in the Park Service after Ebeys was the Presidio Trust in San Francisco. And iterations of these ideas have since found their way to management of Governors Island in New York City and are being discussed as all the parties involved decide what to do with historic Fort Monroe in Virginia as it is decommissioned. One solution popular with many is to turn the historic part of the fort over to the National Park Service, with some kind of Trust as a financial partner to make it work while protecting the nationally significant integrity of the place and interpreting that to the American people. Within the National Park Service, Ebeys Landing is an evolutionary leader. Sixth, Ebeys Landing is a forerunner of combining heritage and park management with local government, as it is here with Coupeville and Island County. Finally, the place where Ebeys Landing fits in the national picture is also related to its nationally significant resources and their integration into the Coupeville and Central Whidbey community. There is no other national park or heritage area of any kind that has the same model as does Ebeys Landing. It is a place of national importance, just as it is of local importance. Ebeys Landing is equal to Olympic, North Cascades and Mount Rainier National Parks in the hierarchy of places of significance recognized by Congress. It is an equal unit of the National Park System. It will be here in perpetuity, and, as the National Park Service Organic Act says, for the benefit of future generations. It is a place that evokes unique and powerful feelings of relationship to the land, to the water, and to the air. It feels like its own place, and it is. And in some ways it is more than those others because it is all those things, yet it is a community trying to live together with a high set of expectations for retention of its values, of its service to others, and of its own local economy. It certainly faces the same difficulties of all communities, but it still has the option, and takes pride in the option, of facing them together, with open democratic checks and balances that do not occur in many communities across our land. Ebeys Landing National Historical Reservewhat a wonderful place to be, both physically and intellectually. As I begin to close, I would like to take you back to the beginning of this talk where I mentioned sense of place. There is a wonderful little book titled, The Great Remembrance by Peter Forbes. A quote from Wendell Berry opens the book. It goes like this: We and our country create one anotherour land passes in and out of our bodies just as our bodies pass in and out of our landtherefore our culture must be our response to our places. Our culture and our place are images of each other and inseparable from each other, and so neither can be better than the other. I find these a very powerful few lines as I think of Ebeys Landing, of its landscapes and its people. I will repeat the last sentence for emphasis: Our culture and our place are images of each other and inseparable from each other, and so neither can be better than the other. Now, Peter Forbes as he begins the book: I recognize that land itself has come to mean many different things to meI had grown comfortable using the word land to mean soil, trees, nature, plants and animals, even vacant lots, but also as a metaphor for something largerIn simplest terms land is where gravity brings us. Land is where our feet but also our souls and our dreams make contact with the rest of theworld. It is where we feel, taste, breathe in and smell the more-than-human world. Land is food, ecosystem, and community. Land is lifeLand, then, is a communion. When I speak of land, I mean something closer to a fountain of energy than any of its individual elementsLand is the sweep of ones heart, the place where we play our greatest strugglesLand is love. This Reserve is a reflection of love. Peter then goes on to ask a question after he visits, as an adult who has been away from his hometown a long time, the site of the Danbury Fair, which he loved to go to as a kid. It is now the Danbury Fair Mall. He is left bereft, for the site of his childhood memories are gone. He asks, What makes the Danbury Fair different from the Danbury Fair Mall? His answer: Certainly both were places where money traded hands, but the fair had a different motivation than the mall does. The fair was the stage for the idiosyncratic story of our land and our people; the mall is primarily a place for financial exchange. In replacing the fair with the mall, we have traded a story for the sake of a transaction. This tradeleads us away from a recordedhuman history and toward what other writers have called the extinction of the human experience. Ebeys Landing retains the timeless human experience. Peter again: Ive returned as an adult to the childhood landscapes that most inspired me, only to find them obliteratedI thought about the possibility of the extinction of real human experience. Maybe new experiences and opportunities had sprung up on this land that now felt so dead to me, but I could only remember how that land had helped me explore, learn, and use my imagination. I realized that what I was witnessing wasnt just the death of a place, but the passing of an experiencea giftthat I had been given. I fear that what it means for me now that I have only memories and not the places themselves. What will it mean for the children who now live where I grew up, who dont have these natural places? Their experience of life will be materially different from my own. They will lack somethingit was the woods themselves that gave me a sense of independence, beauty, and mystery. My daughterwill not inherit the experience of that place itself. Ebeys Landing allows the inheritance to continue. Peter then asks himself the questions all of us need ask ourselves, and need ask when we wonder if the Reserve is still valid: For whom have we conserved this piece of land? Whose life does this touch? How might conservation affect the nature of citizenship? And he might well have asked if he were here, What do we want our community to give to ourselves, and our children and our grandchildren? Having asked these questions, might we opine with Peter as follows? When we have little sense of where we are, we have little sense of who we are. If both land and people lose what is both unique and irreplaceable about themselves, all of us risk being homeless. The most enduring, heartening significance of Ebeys Landing National Reserve is that because you continue to work at it you will not lose what is unique and irreplaceableyou will not be homeless. For 30 years you have chosen a path less traveled, and you have arrived at a place very different from where you could have been. You are still at home. Thank you very much.     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