EASTON: Keep it out of developers' hands

As a former Scout and a former Scout leader I am completely opposed to any proposed sale of the Camp Easton property to a developer. My son and I spent several weeks at Easton over the years and I have personally witnessed what this place means to youth locally and to Scouts from all over the nation and world. The resources offered by this site simply cannot possibly be replaced anywhere else in the immediate area. I suspect any money received by the council would be used to enhance the camp closer to Spokane and Idaho Scouts would lose out on the deal entirely.

If there are safety issues because of the highway, by all means let them be resolved. Establish a reduced speed zone, create a pedestrian underpass, and fence both sides of the road adjacent to the camp.

Enough lakefront has passed from the enjoyment of the many into the hands of the few. Not every natural spot on the lake needs to be turned into playgrounds for the wealthy.

When I was young I saw a beautiful mountain Scout Camp - Flaming Arrow in the Bridger Mountains near Bozeman - sold by shortsighted Scout execs to be replaced by a facility of far less quality on a patch of prairie. Flaming Arrow has since been carved into homesites, roads, and "No Trespassing" signs. It would be an extreme disservice to our youth, and a slap in the face to all who have given their time and money to this camp over the years, to allow the same thing to happen here.

DAVID TOWNSEND

Coeur d'Alene