WICD Board of Supervisors 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 and appointments are held each spring. ​For more information about the Conservation District election process, view our election fact sheet HERE. 

Upcoming board meeting information is posted at the footer of our website, so please scroll to the bottom of this page to find current board meeting information.

• For past board meeting minutes and agendas, visit the Board Meeting Minutes & Agendas archive.
• For a roster of our Board of Supervisors, click here.

WICD Supervisor Profiles

David Edwards
CHAIR
APPOINTED, TERM THROUGH 2024
​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.

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.​

Jennifer Abermanis
MEMBER
ELECTED, TERM THROUGH 2024
Jennifer has been a landowner in Freeland since June 2003 and has been ordering native bare root plants from the district for many years. She is currently building a small organic pumpkin seed business with her husband and meets the public at their booth at the Bayview Farmers Market.
Jennifer is originally from Lake Charles, a small town in Louisiana, where she was raised on a riverbank with a well and septic tank. In Louisiana, she saw the devastation weather can present. 
Her background is in healthcare, where she has served as an executive, a director, an external consultant, an internal consultant, a board member, and a clinical laboratory inspector.  Her work was been focused on both business & science.  She had a deep interest in environmental issues and is committed to learning from colleagues and neighbors, listen deeply, and partner with the community to assure continued service and improvement of our Conservation District.   ​
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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.