WICD Board


​Overview

A board of five Supervisors, three elected and two appointed, directs the programs and policies of the Whidbey Island Conservation District. The board meets once a month to discuss district business, oversee district finances and provide guidance on district activities. The meetings are open to the public. Check the footer at the bottom of each page on our website for current board meeting information and archives.
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Appointed and elected positions are for 3-year terms and are served without compensation. District elections are held each spring. ​For more information about the Conservation District election process, view our election fact sheet by clicking here. To view our supervisor roster, click here.

WICD Board Member Profiles

Sarah Richards
CHAIR
ELECTED, TERM THROUGH 2021
Sarah Richards farms lavender on Whidbey Island and produces value-added products in her new retail and manufacturing location in Coupeville. She grew up on another island off the east coast of the USA. She has had a myriad of work experiences, including telephone installation, computer programming, and mental health counseling. She has a Masters degree in Counseling from Oregon State University. Recently she has served on the boards of the Northwest Agriculture Business Center, KWPA Radio, is a founding officer of the United States Lavender Growers Association, and was President of the Central Whidbey Chamber of Commerce for two terms. She also has a flock of chickens on her lavender farm.
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Tim Keohane
MEMBER
​ELECTED, TERM THROUGH 2022
Tim was born in Osaka, Japan in 1948. As a military family, they moved every three years; living in Europe, North Africa, and several states, including Alaska. Upon graduating high school in 1966, Tim built a 32' fishing vessel and went to Alaska to earn money for college. After graduating with a degree in Industrial Technology/Engineering, he continued to fish commercially in Alaska and to spend the off-season involved in a variety of projects from building boats, to houses, to hydraulic lift boat trailers. Tim became more involved in agriculture when he married his wife, Paula, also a commercial fisher and farmer in Alaska, becoming involved in hay production and forestry. It was at that time they began to work with the Soil Conservation Service in developing the family homestead. Since acquiring some acreage on Whidbey Island, Tim has continued both his commercial fishing in Alaska and his involvement in farm operations and development here. His most recent effort is the development and implementation of a forest conservation plan on their 32-acres in central Whidbey.

Dr. Mark Sytsma
VICE CHAIR
APPOINTED, TERM THROUGH 2023
Mark grew up on corn, soybean and hog farm in Iowa where he learned to basics of agriculture, soil conservation and natural resource management. He earned a B.S. in Biology from Iowa State University then headed to the great Pacific Northwest where he received a M.S. in Civil and Environmental Engineering at UW. After a brief sojourn to the University of California in Davis he received a PhD in Ecology then came back north and spent 24 years as a professor of Environmental Science and Management and research administrator at Portland State University. He retired in 2018 and is currently an Emeritus Professor at PSU. His work at PSU was in water resource management, focused on lakes and invasive species.
While in Oregon he served as an Associate Director on the Clackamas County Soil and Water Conservation where he learned about the valuable work done by conservation districts. In 2016 he moved to 15 acres of pasture and forest land on South Whidbey that he intends to manage for wildlife habitat and grazing.​

David Edwards
MEMBER
APPOINTED, TERM THROUGH 2021

David Edwards holds a bachelor's degree in forest management from Oregon State University, and has substantial field experience in coastal forest lands similar to those found on Whidbey Island. He led the fixed-wing aerial firefighting division of the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, where he became skilled at state-level budgeting and building interagency partnerships. In the mid-2000s, he qualified as an airtanker pilot and flew wildfire suppression missions in Washington State and Alaska. David is a member of the Society of American Foresters and has an interest in using remote sensing technologies in forest management, wildland fire, and agriculture applications. He is a retired Air Force officer and pilot, and has commanded at multiple levels. He is currently a commercial pilot. David and his wife, Jill, live near Langley.

Gary Ketcheson
AUDITOR
ELECTED, TERM THROUGH 2023
Gary grew up a “city” boy in Wyoming. Cheyenne was just barely a city then and was surrounded by miles of open spaces: farms, forest and rangeland. Summers were spent camping and fishing while winters were spent shoveling snow, ice skating and tobogganing.
An interest in forestry landed Gary at the University of Montana School of Forestry where he earned a degree in Resource Conservation with an emphasis in Watershed Management. An MS in Forest Hydrology, with a minor in soil science, followed at Oregon State University. Gary’s 32 year professional career spanned summer jobs with the Bureau of Land Management in Wyoming and Forest Service assignments in Arizona, Idaho and Washington State. All assignments involved the conservation of soil and water resources.
 Since retiring in 2009 and moving to Whidbey Island in 2011, Gary has joined the Master Gardeners and volunteered with the Organic Farm School, Meerkerk Gardens, Habitat for Humanity and the WICD. He looks forward to working with the talented and dedicated staff at WICD. Whidbey Island is a magical place.

2018 Northwest

​Area

District Supervisor

of the Year 

WSCC Director of Policy & Inter-governmental Relations Ron Shultz (right) presents WICD Vice Chair Supervisor Sarah Richards (left) with an award in October 2018.