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Camp Easton Forever appeals dismissal

Alecia Warren | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 13 years, 1 month AGO
by Alecia Warren
| June 9, 2012 9:00 PM

A nonprofit vying to preserve a historic Boy Scout Camp has appealed the dismissal of the group's suit to prevent the camp's sale or trade.

Camp Easton Forever, Inc., in conjunction with the other plaintiffs from the case, filed an appeal early this month of Judge John Luster's May decision.

"It's not over," said Tom Little, member of the nonprofit and a former Camp Easton ranger. "We're still in the game."

Little said Luster's decision, deeming that there is no charitable trust requiring for Camp Easton to remain a camp forever, is based on real estate law "that has nothing to do with our situation."

Little said a court date for the appeal is set for 3 p.m. on July 18.

Camp Easton Forever had filed a lawsuit against the Inland Northwest Council of Boy Scouts last year to block the proposed land swap of Camp Easton, located at Gotham Bay. The INC is in negotiations with Discovery Land Company over exchanging the camp property for a new camp at Sunup Bay and an endowment for maintenance of scout camps.

The plaintiffs' appeal, filed in District Court, calls for the court to apply trust law and not real estate law to the case.

It also alleges that the court previously "acted too hastily" in ruling on claims of fraud and unjust enrichment.

Plaintiffs also take exception to the court's interpretation of standing and the requirement of class certification, the document states, regarding scouts involved in the case.

While the court concluded that the representative boy scout class has only "generalized grievances" with no real injury if the camp is traded, the plaintiffs argue that the boys are actually beneficiaries to a charitable trust, the appeal states.

The injury to the scouts and the nonprofit, the document reads, is that the trust will be "exterminated if it is sold by the trustee - a clear and present danger."

The court made other errors and omissions that should be corrected, the appeal also notes.

The other plaintiffs in the case include scouts Daniel and Matthew Edwards, and Shikar Safari Club International Foundation and its director, Earl Lunceford.

Tim McCandless, scout executive with the INC, was out of the office on Friday and could not be reached for comment.

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