It is truly safe to say that CDA would not be the same had Art Manley and Scott Reed chosen to live elsewhere. In celebration of their legacy, Mayor Steve Widmyer will today fittingly declare July 1 to be officially their day.

Both Art and Scott served on the Coeur d’Alene Planning Commission which blocked development of what has become present day McEuen Park, thereby assuring Tubbs Hill’s ultimate preservation. Both were instrumental in the creation of the Tubbs Hill Foundation and the Kootenai Environmental Alliance. Motivated to preserve the beauties of nature in Idaho and to keep it accessible to the whole community, both worked tirelessly to keep Idaho a pristine space to be treasured.

Pete Frost of the Western Environmental Law Center observed: “Scott was special. He cared a lot about WELC. He helped found it, financially supported it, and shepherded it for decades. He understood our roots and approach, because they were his too. Living [and] practicing conservation law in North Idaho, he knew well that trying to resolve environmental issues at the local level was the best place to start, but that if what you are fighting for is worth it, that going to court is crucial. Even then, he would share coffee or a story and a smile with someone on the other side.”

Pat Ford, executive director of Idaho Conservation League, in lauding Scott for his decades of activism serving the ICL and on the national boards of both the Audubon Society and The Nature Conservancy as well agreed saying, “Safeguarding the public lands’ health is a conservation job, and so is safeguarding the civic compact that keeps them public. Sometimes the jobs coincide, but often each is under tension from the other. Like separation of powers, the public lands are an experiment in fruitfully containing democratic conflict over time.”

In a moving tribute Scott’s wife Lou recalled how “A local Wildlife Federation guy named Art Manley became a lifelong mentor, colleague and friend.

“In the late ’50s, Art and his cronies were concerned about an upcoming vote to decide whether or not to allow a shopping mall to be built where McEuen Park now lies. Their overarching goal was to keep Tubbs Hill in its natural, undeveloped state. Scott joined in the successful effort to defeat the shopping mall and remained committed for life to keeping Tubbs Hill the small corner of wilderness that it is, right in the center of town on the edge of Lake Coeur d’Alene.

“Art Manley launched the crusade to acquire Tubbs Hill for the public. Decades later, Scott led the effort to acquire the final crucial acres. Scott’s book, “The Treasure Called Tubbs Hill,” recounts the long struggle to save it [with the help of the Conservation Fund and the local Jaycees]. Many other dedicated local residents have been involved in the process of acquiring and protecting Tubbs.” Indeed, though many continue that crusade, Art and Scott’s legacy direct that journey.

As one blog post noted after Scott’s death, “[He was] a wonderful, wonderful, kind, brilliant man, who was the conscience of this place. Losing Scott and Art Manley leaves us sorely lacking in so many ways.” Scott and Art were among the stalwart group of friends who in the 1950s planted the Freedom Tree at the foot of Fourth Street in the successful effort to stave off plans to extend the downtown into what has now been transformed into popular McEuen Park. The tall Norwegian spruce fell to the park’s development and a replacement stands at the west side of the Veterans Memorial Plaza in the park. Parts of the tall Norwegian spruce were used in making the “Freedom Tree harp guitar” by the Powell Brothers of Sandpoint. It will be played at the celebration beginning at 4 p.m. when the Powell Brothers and Arvid Lundin perform on their locally made instruments for the event.

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George Ives is a member of Keep Tubbs Hill Green (and clean).