Conservationist's gift logged for profit

(01-29) 04:00 PST TENSED, IDAHO -- It's been 62 years since conservationist Virgil McCroskey donated 400 acres of timberland near this village in Idaho's panhandle to the Boy Scouts, with big ideas for a big new camp.

But don't expect any pup tents or even the faintest whiff of smoke from Camp McCroskey these days. Falling trees extinguished the campfire years ago.

Rarely used for camping, the land instead has become a moneymaker for the Inland Northwest Council of Boy Scouts. Over the past 35 years, the council has clearcut and otherwise logged parts of the gift, collecting hundreds of thousands of dollars -- some going to pay off the mortgage on council headquarters in Spokane, according to a former member of the council's directors board.