By JOE KUNZLER

I begin my response to Monday’s joyous news from the U.S. Navy by quoting a member of the Washington State Board of Health from the Board’s Aug. 9, 2017 deliberations on responding to a request from Citizens of Ebey’s Reserve, or COER, for jet noise mitigation:

“This is Steve Kutz. I want to point out that the Island County Board of Commissioners and Island County Board of Health have it within their power to address some of these issues if they so choose to do that. Their decisions to allow building to occur around aircraft have contributed to this. So, I’m not going to let them off the hook for that. If they continue to allow building to occur in these areas around this, they’re the ones that are going to have to figure it out.”

So arguably, between those comments, the 2026 Island County Comprehensive Plan and the Navy’s 2025 updated analysis, the Navy’s 2021 Air Installations Compatible Use Zones, or AICUZ, program, and the Navy’s 2019 Environmental Impact Statement, now is the time for land use reform. The Navy has been clear that NAS Whidbey Island will stay as long as NAS Whidbey Island can perform its missions.

Maybe that is why, sadly, Whidbey had noise agitation groups opposed land use reform in 1992 after agitating for NAS Whidbey Island closure in spring 1991 – which arguably led to today’s noise agitation groups. I hope for a different result in 2026.

To be blunt, if noise agitation groups choose to protest the fundamentals of these upcoming land-use policy changes, that just shows the true motives of groups were neither public health nor alleged environmental harms, but personal property values versus our shared economic and national security futures. Remember, NAS Whidbey Island provides over 9,000 direct jobs and over $1 billion in annual economic impact – far more than Ebey’s Landing National Historical Reserve could generate. NAS Whidbey Island is who pays for nice things like public health, Island Transit, first responders, and Ebey’s NHR – not activism or tourism.

Additionally, the future of Ebey’s Landing National Historical Reserve is under threat from defunding. Imagine a future where the reserve’s land-use restrictions disappeared – incentives to turn Central Whidbey into just another soulless bedroom community increase. Or we can unite for new land use regulations, ensuring the future of NAS Whidbey Island and Ebey’s Reserve. Additionally, one can read Sharon A. Boswell’s July 2022 “Historical Overview of Naval Outlying Landing Field Coupeville Land Use and Whidbey Island Military Missions” to understand OLF Coupeville’s place in Ebey’s NHR’s history.

Ultimately, to preserve the reserve, I submit we need to reframe the situation plus implement land-use reforms to limit and roll back incompatible development in Central Whidbey. Therefore, I conclude with this Tony Blair quotation: “This is a moment to seize. The kaleidoscope has been shaken. The pieces are in flux. Soon they will settle again. Before they do, let us re-order this world around us.”

Seems timely so we can start being united, please.

Joe A. Kunzler is an aviation journalist and photographer based in Skagit County who has stood 525 feet or closer to field carrier landing practice at OLF Coupeville many times. Kunzler is also a member of several groups in support of the US Navy, a hobbyist historian working on several projects, an open government advocate and regular transit rider.