Camp Easton logging spawns concern

Trees have been coming down at Camp Easton, the Boy Scout camp on the east side of Lake Coeur d'Alene.

Scout Executive Anthony Escobar with the Boy Scouts of America Inland Northwest Council, which owns and operates the 383-acre site, 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.

A few community members have contacted The Press expressing concerns about the logging operation, which has been underway since early fall.

Bev Twillman of Harrison was so concerned she snapped aerial drone images of the logging operation to have a closer look.

"You have to see it to believe it," she said Friday. "They are raping the land. They are raping Camp Easton."

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.

"What used to be the wilderness — you saw a lot of trees — is wide open," Twillman said. "I can see the fire pits. It's sad.

"There’s no wilderness camping without wilderness,” she continued. "They have destroyed the wilderness at Camp Easton."

She said she shared the images with a timber expert who said the stands of trees are healthy.

"Also, when we who live over here see the logging trucks leaving this site, all the logs, heading to a mill, look healthy," Twillman said.

Escobar said as the thick growth of the forest was penetrated, more disease than was previously known was discovered, requiring the removal of those trees as well.

"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."

Camp operations began in the summer of 1920. Camp Easton was listed in April on momswhothink.com as one of the seven best scouting camps in the U.S.

The camp was gifted to the local Boy Scouts through Fred Fitze, with major funding for facilities construction led by mining entrepreneur Stanley Easton, its namesake.

Escobar said any monies generated by the removal of diseased trees will remain local and will be used to benefit local scouting programs.

"All old-growth timber that is not diseased or considered a hazardous tree is being preserved for overall forest health and natural reseeding," he said.

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.

For those who are concerned about the tree removal, Escobar said if the diseased trees were not taken out, the disease would spread.

"Diseased trees eventually die and become a health and safety hazard," he said. "We value the beauty of the forest and especially those areas for which we are responsible and work diligently to be good stewards of the land. Preserving and protecting nature is one of our core beliefs."

Twillman feels otherwise.

When the camp was eyed by a development company in 2011, Twillman was one of several locals who vocally opposed the sale of the land.

"I am so upset. After all the hard work, we thought we had that camp saved," she said. "It's all about the money."

She and neighbors fear it might be too late for Camp Easton following the logging that has taken place.

"I'm not a Boy Scout, I don't have kids in Scouts, but I love the land, I love the beauty of North Idaho," she said. "The boys that get to come here that can't experience this where they live, it's so rich for them. Anybody who lives here and appreciates here knows how lucky we are.

"It breaks my heart to think about the boys who'll never be able to experience it now," she said. 

It's not the same camp anymore, she said.

"Parents need to see what’s going on and stop it before it's all gone," Twillman said.

The Boy Scouts of America Inland Northwest Council also owns and operates Camp Grizzly in Harvard, Idaho, and the Cowles Scout Reservation in Newport, Wash.

    Machinery is seen removing trees from Camp Easton in mid-November.
  

    Log piles at Camp Easton are seen mid-November amid logging operations that have caused concern for some community members.
  

    Tree stumps are seen this fall at Camp Easton, a Boy Scout camp on the east side of Lake Coeur d'Alene where trees are being removed.