Stosh

I like the word "native" in the requirement. It shows the scouts the impact of introducing invasive species into established ecosystems and how that could disrupt the whole natural setup. I have various ferns, native grasses and plants in my "flower gardens". I can walk my scouts out there and identify 10 invasive and 10 native plants in 5 minutes. I can also tell you the reason for the invasives because many of them were brought into the area for medicinal and ornamental purposes. Make sure my invasives do not escape my garden, but use them on a regular basis.

Is "being literal" just another excuse for not doing what the requirement states, i.e. adding and subtracting from the requirement. I am in no place to be the one to second guess what was going through the mind of the writer of the requirement, but a number of people must have approved it to make it into the requirements.

https://www.facebook.com/attn/videos/1079636055405186/ Cooking MB Personal Finance MB Tent repair, backpack repair, clothing repair, patches, etc. Kinda makes one think a bit about these MB classes and whether or not they are worth it.

I put up a bird feeder in my backyard outside the kitchen window many years ago when my kids were small. We were going to teach the kids about the different kinds of birds that would come to feed. Sparrow after sparrow showed up. Nothing else..... until we got a bird book out and started a whole new area for me, there a tons of different kinds of sparrows out there. House Sparrows, Field Sparrows, English Sparrows! It was really neat and at one time I could easily identify 10 different kinds of sparrows.... something I would never have been able to do had I just blown off the "failure" of not having a variety of different "birds" at the feeder. Since then my kids have grown to appreciate the different kinds of birds that don't go to seed feeders and are carnivorous, such as Turkey Vultures, Eagles, Robins, Swallows and non-seed eaters like Ducks and Geese. And this "diversity" became quite an interesting opportunity for my family.

I like the "native plant" and "wild animal" part of the requirements, it shows a deeper level of understanding about these items rather than just identifying them. Dutch Elm Disease, Oak Blight, Emerald Ash Bore, and other invasive species have taken their toll on many of the native species in our area and an awareness of the ecological impact goes a long way to "remembering for a reason" dynamics of the requirements.

Welcome to the forum @Sandthecool12. I generally have hand small troops, but when my troop grew to 4 patrols, the boys decided to have an SPL. ....but the boys diidn't have a PLC...... so I can't help you there. The SPL did a fantastic job of leading, but left the management of the patrols to the PL's.

It makes a great tea, very nutritious.... by the way, Jewel Weed growing in the same vicinity is the cure for the nettle's itch.

@swilliams Welcome, As long as you "just moved to NJ", we won't hold it against you.

I'm all for making up the requirements to mean "anything you wish it would mean". Unfortunately, that's not a slippery slope I wish to be on. The U. S. Government defines an invasive species as one "that is not native to the ecosystem under consideration and whose introduction causes or is likely to cause economic or environmental harm or harm to human health." That sounds like it means more than "anything you wish it would mean" especially to a conservation, ecologically minded, nature person like a Boy Scout. I sure hope that the rule-of-thumb "anything you wish it would mean" when it comes to poisonous plant identification.... just sayin'. Just my 2-cents.

http://thewildclassroom.com/biodiversity/problemplants/species/Cattails.htm

Back in 1999 when Venturing appeared on the horizon, they wanted me to start a Venturing Crew. I really didn't want to do it so I told them I would if I could shoot guns at people, ditch the hearing protection and eye protection, have people stand in front of you when you shoot, and handle blackpowder wrapped in paper. My council contacted National BSA for a "ruling" and they said, "YES", I was stuck, so I started a reenacting group of Venturers and ran for 15 years with no problem and no hassles.

Diversity? Invasive plants are not diversity, they are destructive and destroy native species. Take Kudzu for example...... Purple Loosestrife, too..... At one time Australia was England's penal colony. Didn't need to take care of these people just let them fend for themselves in an inescapable land. Well, the ships bringing in the criminals also brought with them rats. No known predators and soon Australia had a rat problem. So they imported cats, well, now they have a feral cat problem, too. It would be good to educate the boys beyond just plant identification, native plants is a good start. How big is our problem? "According to a paper by Cornell ecologist David Pimentel and others, invasive species cause major environmental damage amounting to almost $120 billion per year. About 42 percent of the species on the U. S. List of Endangered and Threatened Species are at risk primarily because of nonnative invasives. (See Ecological Economics, Volume 52, Issue 3, 1 February, pages 273-288)." It might do well to stick to the requirement of identifying native plants. This requirement has been around longer than BSA's emphasis on STEM and there might be a good reason for it.

Common showers are slowly going by the wayside as are non-stalled toilet facilities. Why would tents be any different?

Biology 101 - Either it's a plant or an animal. fungi, and other life forms don't count. Way too complicated beyond plant and animal. Take any square yard section of the field/woods and get a magnifying glass and you'll get all 10 plants and animals. I It's a good thing we only have plants and not wild plants because otherwise one has to determine if the the Jack-in-the-Pulpit volunteers in your home garden is it still wild? Do the plants have to be native? or are imported or invasive plants valid? Russian Olive, Buckthorn, Garlic Mustard, Burdock, Dandelion and Purple Loose Strife are all invasive, but Yellow Loose Strife is native. Dame's Rocket is invasive, but Phlox is native If it's growing in someone's yard does it count or does it need to be in a park or forest away from homes? I have a Hawiian Ti plant I grow in the house. It's not native to my neck of the woods, but I set it outside in the summer. Does that count? Rats are not native to America, and invasive insects are not native. They can be both inside the home and outside. Would anything introduced by human intervention be considered "wild"? And the ultimate test.... are the Barn Owl, Barn Swallow and Barn Sparrow really wild? Or the Horse Fly or Common House Fly wild? I have a bat house for mosquito control are my bats wild or domesticated because I provide their house???? Alien species to any region or area is considered as such when it is introduced by human intervention. Burdock was introduced and "escaped" the gardens of America to become an invasive species, i.e. wild. Same holds true for animals. So if we are interested in finding evidence of animals, do woodpecker holes count?, bird nests?, bird poop on the windshield?, roadkill? I have no idea how we are to get these boys through these requirements! .

I train my boys to tuck it under. If they don't, as long as it doesn't rain, no big deal. The floor of the tent is protected from rocks.sticks, etc. However, the first time it rains, all the rain runs off the rain fly and gets caught by the ground cloth which channels it under the tent like a rain gutter. If my boys don't listen, eventually they will figure it out,...after that first rain. I try and not use the phrase, "I told you so..." which is so cliche. Instead, I look in the tent, see the sopping mess and say, "I bet you don't do that again anytime soon..." That officially ends the lesson.

I had a boy restore an old memorial park that had passed hands from a veterans group to the county and then to the city. It was a shamble. He went in and did a great job cleaning it up.... but when he was all done the city took a look at it and found a foundation that would "complete" what the boy started. Now it's a fantastic park with walking trails, fishing pond, picnic shelters, benches, gardens, etc. It would have never happened if the scout didn't start the process out in the first place. It looks nothing like what the scout ended up with, but he always reminds me, he started it, the foundation just finished it.

So there's no rule for homosexual boys tenting together, nor is there any rule that says a transgender girl can't bunk up with a male scout. Try and enforce separation in those situations and see how long before a cadre of lawyers are assigning tents on an outing.

Nope, they were ecstatic! This was my Eagle that started out a real pain in the butt and ended up a great kid. His dad and I are still connected on FB as well as his Eagle son. The mom expressed a lot of gratitude because once I took over as SM and made him toe the line (his dad was the SM I replaced) he not only improved in scouts, but in school and is now in the Air Force Reserves going to college. All of which his parents never figured he would do. The Nova was just icing on the cake for a job well done.

I had 2 boys in one of my units that had a mom that kept their activity calendar for them. She followed them around like a puppy dog and made sure the boys never had to deal with any problems. They both Eagled, they both made OA Vigil, and just about every accolade available through the BSA. I think they are both off now about the time of finishing law school. All I can say is they didn't get their Eagle on my watch. I had another boy who's parents said he couldn't get his driver's license until he Eagled. I personally put a stop to that process with a visit with his parent's over involvement with the boy's Eagle.. He Eagled in due time and even borrowed my '74 Nova for prom. Do I play favorites? Yep, I favor the boys that want to really earn their Eagle. With avid parents pushing the boy, I wait until the boy really wants to earn his Eagle.

Our council goes beyond the personal letters of reference and also include one from the SM. If the SM does not submit one, the EBOR his not scheduled.

Following all the rules i the Life to Eagle pamphlet makes the candidate a good follower, not a good leader. the most the adults are involved, the less likely that will ever change.

Yes, it's going to be "How to Wok your Dog" MB

I, too, have read the book "How to $hit in the Woods". Go to the chapter on backpacking toilets and one will find the solution there. 4" PVC of various lengths (depending on the length of the trek) and solid cap one end and screw cap the other end. Then put in about 1/3rd full of kitty litter. Use the softer stuff, not the clay (too heavy). It should work for your needs. According to the book, the urine is to be put into the river to dissipate. Liquid waste not in the river produces a concentrate that will attract unwanted critters. Only solid waste is to be packed out. In some places this is specifically identified as the proper procedure. I too, would avoid the flood plain areas unless it is like the Colorado where escape routes are mandatory in the magnitude of the flash floods that occur at every rain. The 200' away from water sources is due to the nitrate pollution that can occur to "fertilize" the algae problem in the lakes of the area. This is for the solid waste problem as well as the disposal of phosphate soaps for wash water.

For many years the troop took an annual float on a white-water river a few hours away. I have freighter canoes and the troop has regular canoes. The difference being in the hull design. I know that my canoes are very difficult to tip over and are totally useless for Canoeing MB where the boys need to tip them over and right them in deep water. So whenever I went on the river, I never tipped over no matter what came our way. Because of this I had a reputation that preceded me on never tipping over. I always would take a new scout with me who knew nothing about canoeing, but whose weight held down the front of the canoe as ballast. We were doing just fine and the boys was actually following directions and it made the float really easy. However, I became complacent in that I was relying on him doing the right thing at the right time. We can up to a low lying branch over the river and I knew we needed to go around it. When I looked at my new scout he had the paddle up under his chin, frozen in fear of this upcoming obstacle. It was too late for me to go around and in order not to get caught in the snag, I grabbed the gunnel and jerked as hard as I could to roll the canoe. It worked and we both ended up in the drink. He came up sputtering and crying. I asked if he was hurt and he said no. I then asked him why he was crying. He said it was because he was the only scout who ever tipped me into the drink. I assured him that I had done it on purpose, but he came back with him doing his part to keep us on course in the first place. I assured him that as a new scout I only had him in the front of the canoe as ballast kinda like a box of rocks. It was the wrong thing to say..... He laughed and I knew he was okay, except his scout nickname from that point on was "Box o' Rocks". I was mentioned in his comments at his ECOH.

@ladybug_scout Welcome to the forum! I have found over the years that if I lay out expectations before hand goes a long way to keep things civilized. The reference resources listed above are a great start so that everyone has some idea of what is expected of them. Just recently I started a new troop. I as SM have certain responsibilities that need to get done and I'm not a crack-shot ace on some of those requirements. So I have ASM's to help out. For example, I do my best to make sure my boys are on-task with advancement. So I have an ASM that does all the paperwork for this process so I have an idea of what I need to be doing. Every meeting my ASM shows up with a current report showing where everyone stands with their advancement. When we do a requirement, I simply circle the advancement the scout has completed. He then goes to each boy and updates their books and then records it in the membership software. The report the next week reflects these changes. It is a god-send to me to have him do this and I can focus my time working with the scouts rather than burn up all my energy doing paperwork. The recharter shows up on my radar and I take the packet to the CC and ask her if this is something she can handle and make sure all the expectations are laid out to be successful and let her know if there are any bumps in the road, to let me know and we'll work it out together. After a couple of times, I now just hand her the packet and say thanks! It works because there are no more surprises that they haven't covered in past years. Let me know if something has changed and we'll work it out. It's kinda like everyone is involved, but everyone knows their responsibilities and does them. If there's a problem, let everyone know and we all jump in to make it work for the boys. No one gets left out in the cold not knowing what is expected of them and who to turn to when there's a problem. I don't do their job and they don't do mine. Everyone tends to be quite happy with this setup. Now if your CM is having a problem, the CC is there to help and vice-versa. There's no letting things smolder until someone's reached the end of their rope and blows up. People know long before they get to that point, who's there to help out in a timely manner. It also insures I know what is expected of me and if I don't need help, no one's going to jump in and interfere with a whole raft of unwanted assistance. It's all part of taking care of your people. I know I can't do it all, but I have a team of people that together we can make it work.