Camp Easton (ID) logging

[RememberSchiff 3680]

Inland Northwest Council SE Anthony Escobar said logging is taking place to cull diseased trees for the health and safety of the forest.

"Diseased trees were identified and tagged for removal," Escobar told The Press via email Thursday. "We plan to plant saplings to replace culled trees," he said. "We also needed to create access roads, where none previously existed, in the event of fire. Reducing the deadwood throughout the camp also helps reduce the risk of potential fires."

Bev Twillman belongs to the grassroots Neighbors for Responsible Growth, an organization of more than 400 people across Kootenai County who want to preserve North Idaho's wild areas for future generations. "There’s no wilderness camping without wilderness,” she continued. "They have destroyed the wilderness at Camp Easton."

Any rumors of the camp being sold are false and unfounded, Escobar said. Long-term plans for the Inland Northwest Council's camps are to grow the programs offered to scouting families and the local community, he said.

"Specifically, for Camp Easton, we recently built a new shotgun range, cowboy action range and we are currently accepting bids for the construction of new cabins," he said.

Source with Bev Twillman aerial drone photos

https://cdapress.com/news/2023/dec/30/camp-easton-logging-community-concern/

Edited December 30, 2023 by RememberSchiff
typo

[RememberSchiff 3680]

13 minutes ago, RememberSchiff said:

"Specifically, for Camp Easton, we recently built a new shotgun range, cowboy action range and we are currently accepting bids for the construction of new cabins," he said.

I saw no mention of milling boards on site for building said new cabins. IMHO, that could be an interesting program area.

[RememberSchiff 3680]

Two local opinions on logging Camp Easton and donating wilderness properties:

Camp Easton, Safety First - Mike Aagesen extract:

First and foremost, Camp Easton is a privately owned property that can be done with at the discretion of the owners, which just happens to be the Inland Northwest Council of the Boy Scouts of America. While stunning, it is not there solely for anyone’s personal viewing pleasure. This is not the National Forest but a functioning operating Camp that earns revenue from the youth that attend it!...

One single wind event several years ago took down hundreds of trees at Camp Easton. No surprise, these trees fall indiscriminately. That means fire roads, parking lots, Scout camping areas, parade grounds, waterfront and structures are all at risk. If you have any doubts about the power of a falling tree, the recent fatal tragedy on Seltice Way should be a stark reminder. Allowing trees to fall as “nature intended” sounds ill-advised and, well, basically stupid for a Camp where young people are present. Just an FYI, there is no “old growth” on Camp Easton, but the older larger trees are much more susceptible to these events...

If folks want Camp Easton to remain as is to satisfy their anti-development agenda, it needs to be maintained, sometimes aggressively, so that it is first and foremost safe. I suggest, park the drones and crack open the checkbook, that would go a lot further to preserving Camp Easton. I am a member of the Boy Scouts of America but not currently serving in any official capacity and views are my own.

Full editorial link:

https://cdapress.com/news/2024/jan/11/my-turn-camp-easton-safety-first/

Warning to Potential Land Donors - Bev Twillmann extract:

...When Camp Easton land was donated to the BSA by the Fitze family in the early 1900s, the intention was it be used “as a camp for boys, in perpetuity,” to benefit their growth and development. This statement is right out of the minutes of the meeting with the BSA and the Fitze family, prior to the donation being accepted. That document surfaced during the lawsuit that was filed in 2011 when the Inland Northwest Council of Boy Scouts, located in Spokane, tried to sell/swap Camp Easton for a less desirable location in Sunup Bay and allow Discovery Land Company to take over the present site for a development. “In perpetuity” means “forever,” yet the expensive lawyers for BSA  were able to twist the words and convince the Court that by selling/swapping Camp Easton, they were using the proceeds to “benefit the boys,” so it did not go against original wishes for the donation. Public outcry was one of the main reasons the deal never went through. Mr. Fitze would never have wanted this land extensively logged as a “Cash Cow” for the BSA.

The Camp Easton trees now being cut and being taken to the mill are beautiful virgin pieces of lumber; healthy, straight huge timber of old growth trees. In researching “old growth trees,” Wikipedia states old-growth forests are ... ”old-growth stands usually between 80 and 150 years …” Camp Easton was heavily timbered over a century ago, when it was donated; many of the trees there today were there then, and are what’s being presently logged. To state otherwise, that no old-growth trees are on this land is untrue. This is not forest management — it is forest slaughter for profit.

Mr. Aagesen mentions in his letter the “risk” involved in having so many large trees in Camp Easton. What does he think a “Wilderness Camp” should be? A flat piece of ground with no trees bigger than 4 feet? In speaking to some of the past Camp Easton workers and Scouts, as well as many local old-timers, no one has ever heard of any individual attending Camp Easton having a tree fall on them...

Full editorial link:

https://cdapress.com/news/2024/jan/25/my-turn/