Bartoo Island Holdout Begins Packing Gear

A Spokane man who is fighting to keep his cabin on a Priest Lake island has removed some of his possessions.

Dick Russell is one of six cabin owners whose permits to occupy national forest land expired this summer. The Russell family has owned its Bartoo Island vacation home for 43 years.

The other five families have abandoned their cabins or are dismantling them, said Priest Lake District Ranger Kent Dunstan.

A U.S. Forest Service attorney said Dick Russell’s lawsuit against the agency is “crawling along.”

Attorney Alan Campbell said he will file a request for summary judgment in federal court, in hopes that the case can be resolved without the jury trial that Russell would like to see.

The Forest Service would not renew the annual permits for the island cabins, saying the land is needed for public recreation.

, DataTimes MEMO: IDAHO HEADLINE: Man fighting Forest Service removes items from cabin