A nonprofit recently formed to oppose the sale of a nearly 90-year-old Boy Scout camp has filed legal action against two scouting entities.

With aims to halt the proposed sale of the camp to a high-end developer, Camp Easton Forever, Inc. filed a complaint on Sept. 29 against the Inland Northwest Council Boy Scouts of America and Council Endowment Properties, LLC, which the Easton property is deeded to.

"We all know in today's game, that (legal action) is how to get things settled," said Tom Little, on the nonprofit board of directors and also a former Camp Easton ranger. "We need to get this stopped, so we can move forward and maintain our camp. That is our primary position."

The lawsuit, filed in the First District Court, states that the proposed sale of the 421-acre camp at Gotham Bay to Discovery Land Company would deprive the scouts of "an irreplaceable property and result in unjust enrichment of defendants and of Discovery."

The legal document asks the court to place a permanent injunction preventing the defendants from selling the property to be used as anything besides a boys' camp.

It also requests a declaratory judgment stating that selling the camp to Discovery violates the terms of the Easton deed.

Finally, the suit calls for an order prohibiting negotiations on the proposed sale, or any other sale to a party that would use the property for purposes besides a camp for boys.

"We don't want to get in a back-and-forth thing, blaming this person or that," Little said about the proposed sale. "We want to take the higher ground in the situation."

The suit points out that the original property at Gotham Bay was donated in 1929 by the Fitzes, persuant to a deed that specified the property "be used in perpetuity as a camp for boys."

The document also cites a multitude of donations of money, boats, docks, equipment, services and materials given to Camp Easton.

Selling to Discovery would be a breach of confidence for all the original parties, the document states, as well as later donors and contributors who had understood the camp would remain at its location forever.

"We want to preserve the Boy Scout camp, as per Mr. Fred Fitze's request," Little said, adding that the nonprofit also plans to raise funds to repair the camp's current facilities.

Tim McCandless, scout executive for the INC, said he couldn't comment on pending litigation.

But the council's highest priority is, and always has been, providing the best possible programs for scouts in North Idaho and Eastern Washington, he said.

"Our executive board and our staff take that responsibility very seriously. We're disappointed that some would question our commitment to that mission," McCandless said.

The council board is still researching various aspects of the proposal, which includes a land exchange in which Discovery would purchase property at Windy Bay on Lake Coeur d'Alene and build a new camp. The Arizona-based company would also supply a $2.5 million endowment foundation to maintain all scout facilities.

"Basically it boils down to the council has been given a very rare opportunity," McCandless said. "It could enhance scouting in our area for generations to come. It would irresponsible for us not to explore those possibilities."