Thomas,
Ebey lake, in fact the entire top of Ebey Hill lies within Washington state
Department of Natural Resources land and is, therefore, public property.
I'm not sure, but I think the old locked gate two miles from the lake is the
DNR boundary. The DNR closed the road to motorized traffic at that point
primarily to stop illegal cutting of trees. I agree that packing a float
tube to the lake was no chore and it tended to keep the use to a minimum.
The only lake that I know of that was bought up by a church group was Hannan
Lake northeast of Duvall, another former flyfishing-only lake. The problem
at Ebey lake is that the new gate is meant to prevent access to and use of
the road which is the only way to get to the DNR lands.
