RememberSchiff

Camp Gustin (95 acres) is among 20 properties selected for Land for Maine’s Future conservation program. Matt Klutzaritz, Pine Tree Council CSE, said the property is expected to be conveyed in the next few months. “We are pleased the Androscoggin Land Trust will be purchasing the property, thus protecting it in perpetuity for Scouts and the general public,” Klutzaritz said. “We have been working with Androscoggin Land Trust for some time and we feel that this is an excellent collaboration for this wonderful property.” Aimee Dorval, executive director of Androscoggin Land Trust, said the property will be open to the public in the near future. Boy Scouts will not have exclusive use of the land, but will be able to hold some special events and use the camp, she said. Source: https://www.pressherald.com/2022/06/06/five-local-projects-among-20-picked-for-land-for-maines-future-conservation-program/

The Ohio Department of Natural Resources has purchased 477 acres at the former Woodland Trails Scout Reservation and will make it a part of state’s wildlife preserve in Preble County. ODNR paid the Miami Valley Council of Boy Scouts of America $1.815 million for the property, according to Brian Plasters, Ohio Division of Wildlife spokesman. ... Jeffrey Schiavone, Miami Valley Council scout executive/CEO, said the final parcel, the core area of the camp, has not been placed on the market for sale. The portion that was sold last week was deemed as “excess land.” “This sale will allow the Miami Valley Council to make our contribution to the National BSA’s Survivor’s Trust, along with all local councils across the country, which will achieve two key imperatives: equitably compensate survivors of past abuse and ensure the mission of Scouting to continues in our communities,” Schiavone said. “Since the beginning of this process, we’ve been hyper-focused on continuing Scouting’s long-standing tradition of environmental stewardship, and we are very happy that the land is placed in the hands of a conservation-minded organization with ODNR.” More details at source link: https://www.journal-news.com/local/odnr-purchases-part-of-woodland-trails-camp-from-boy-scouts/CMDAP2HZKFBDTHES6PYF77OEP4/

Update 06/06/2022: Two men (brothers) are in custody in connection with the statue theft. Both are charged with possession of stolen goods greater than $10,000 and malicious damage to property greater than $10,000. https://abcnews4.com/news/local/arrests-made-after-suspects-cut-up-life-sized-boy-scout-statue-attempt-to-sell-parts https://www.live5news.com/2022/06/06/brothers-accused-stealing-cutting-up-boy-scout-statue/

Mark Twain said "Buy Land. They're not making any more." Senator Blumenthal's comment regarding the existing National Park Service’s Land and Water Conservation Fund (establlished in 1964) appears on the mark. LWCF project map list: https://lwcf.tplgis.org/mappast/ On August 4, 2020, the Great American Outdoors Act became law, further funding the LWCF.

Other thoughts: - purchase a surplus MacKenzie statue from a council about to be merged. - 3D scan my 4" x 1.5" MacKensie and scale for full size mold fabrication. - borrow another council's statue, cut into the 3 or 4? sections sufficient for molding new statue. Re-weld - recycle, move on, plant a tree. I really cannot see purchasing a replacement statue. 👍 My $0.01

...now if part of the statute could be put back together by scouts, that would speak to our character, say akin to our cracked Liberty Bell. my $0.02, A Boy Scout Merit Badge Camp at Sikeston Career and Technology Center (MO) is hosting a welding event for scouts to gain hands-on learning experience with welding. ”Right now, we have around 130 to 150 participants,” said Welding Instructor Brent Trankler. “It’s an exposure to a skill in trade that they might not get to see. We’ve used it as a recruitment tool for my class here and we get a lot of kids interested in it at youth,” Brent Trankler said. “These activities include wire welding, stick welding, oxy fuel cutting, some virtual welding machines that were donated by Lincoln Electric and we also have a black smithing event,” said Trankler. https://www.kfvs12.com/2022/06/03/more-than-150-boy-scouts-attend-welding-event-tomorrow/

“I am emphasizing to my colleagues that there is a clear urgency here,” said U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat who thinks there may be federal funds available to buy Scout properties. “We have no time to waste.” Sen. Blumenthal has said he’s looking into the possible use of money from the National Park Service’s Land and Water Conservation Fund to help in the purchase of the Connecticut camp and the other Boy Scout properties for sale across the nation. Individual states decide which projects to pay for with that money. Sen. Blumenthal said selling camps to developers goes against the tenants of an organization that is supposed to teach environmental stewardship. “Unfortunately, local Boy Scout councils are selling to the highest bidder,” he said. “So, I think it is a national challenge, but it goes to the core of what scouting means and the ethos and ethic of scouting, which they may be betraying.”

Does Council have insurance coverage for this?

Update June, 2022 No surprise, this Scout is now an Outdoor Contributor to the Bangor Daily News (Maine). https://bangordailynews.com/author/nolanraymond/

I wonder if lead was added to original bronze (copper and tin alloy as I remember from Metallurgy MB back in the day).

I noticed this in section summary... Section 147. Increasing Youth Recreation Visits to Federal Land. (new) This section requires the Department of Agriculture and DOI to develop a national strategy to increase youth recreation on Federal lands. ...sounds like a job for us!

So perhaps the weight and scrap value were over-estimated. “It’s just another example of bad things happening in the world right now that we’d like to turn the corner and go the other direction,” B&D president Chris Staubes said. “Doing the mental math on this, it’s a 500-pound bronze statue if it was melted down, if some of these places are paying .40 cents on the dollar, you’re not talking about a whole lot of money,” he said. “I mean several hundred dollars that someone may have gotten causing this type of harm.” Source has photo of pieces. https://www.live5news.com/2022/06/01/missing-scouts-statue-returned-pieces-scrap-metal-dumped-into-buckets/

Acccording to B&D’s (scrap yard) marketing director Kimberly Strobel , a man showed up at the yard trying to sell metal. A cashier went out to inspect the load on the scales, confirmed it appeared to be a cut-up art piece, and said no sale. Cameras captured his arrival, Strobel said. With the scrap yard sale negated, the man left. B&D called police. A short while later, the fire broke out. Apparently the 1000lb statue was broken into 50 pieces... SE Jason Smith later confirmed to The Post and Courier the pieces were back in the scouts’ possession but he did not disclose how they came back. I checked scrapmonster.com. Bronze scrap ranges from $1 to 2.70/lb https://www.postandcourier.com/news/stolen-north-charleston-boy-scout-statue-found-in-pieces-at-burning-scrap-yard/article_5912d4a0-e1b8-11ec-b967-57f68d81aed3.html

Update May, 2022: ... the Simplifying Outdoor Access for Recreation (SOAR) Act - passed out of the Senate Energy & Natural Resources Committee. Next, the bill will head to the Senate floor for a vote. That means we’re one step closer to fixing the current inefficient, unpredictable recreational permitting system, which creates barriers for people to experience the outdoors through outdoor programs like The Mountaineers. The SOAR Act was included in a larger package of recreation bills* called the America’s Outdoor Recreation Act of 2022 (S. 3266), which passed the Senate committee by voice vote on May 3. The Mountaineers actively worked with the bill sponsor and committee to improve the legislation as it moved through the process. The SOAR Act will improve the recreational permitting systems of federal land agencies so that more people can experience public lands through volunteer-based clubs (like The Mountaineers), outfitters, guides, nonprofit leadership organizations, or university outdoor programs. The bill has already passed through the House Natural Resources Committee... A section by section summary (9 pages) of America’s Outdoor Recreation Act of 2022: https://www.energy.senate.gov/services/files/F32F442F-7FEC-4734-886A-875A7B247E4F but here is a shorter summary: This bill provides for additional recreation opportunities and facilitates greater access to federal public lands. If the public does not need to obtain a permit or reservation to access an existing picnic area, neither the Department of the Interior nor the Department of Agriculture (USDA) may require an outfitter or guide serving fewer than 40 clients to obtain a permit to access that site. Interior and USDA shall construct and designate shooting ranges on National Forest System land and public land administered by the Bureau of Land Management for the public to use for recreational target shooting. Interior and the Forest Service shall enter into an agreement with the Rural Utilities Service to install or construct broadband internet infrastructure at recreation sites on federal land. The Bureau of Reclamation shall establish a competitive grant program to provide grants to conduct inspections and decontamination of watercraft in reservoirs operated and maintained by Interior, including to purchase and operate a watercraft inspection and decontamination station. Interior and USDA shall establish a pilot program under which Interior or USDA may enter into an agreement with a private entity providing for capital improvements (including the construction of structures and improvements), management, and maintenance by the private entity of a campground on federal land. More details at source link: https://www.mountaineers.org/blog/soar-act-advances-in-u-s-senate

Update: Statue FOUND! Parts of the statue were discovered at B & D Scrap Metal when fire crews responded to a fire at that facility. https://www.counton2.com/news/local-news/missing-boy-scout-statue-found-at-scrap-metal-facility/

Yeah I think BP took that concept from Havad Business Review. For about 2X the cost of a Scout Handbook, you can buy their current issue. IMHO joining a Scout Troop is more thrifty.

BSA is also requesting any video footage of the theft caught by cameras of nearby businesses, as the organization is concerned the statue will be taken to a scrap yard for shredding or melting. A police report mentions that the statue was fastened to its base by four bolts, and two of the bolts appeared to have been “ripped” from the statue’s base while the other two were possibly cut. https://www.counton2.com/news/latest-news/north-charleston-police-investigating-theft-of-life-sized-boy-scout-statue/

05/32/2022 Coastal Carolina Council BSA Service Center (SC): A $1,000 reward is being offered for the arrest and conviction of the people responsible for stealing a bronze and life-sized Boy Scout statue from a center in North Charleston. According to officials with the Boy Scouts of America, when staff returned to work at the Coastal Carolina Council BSA Service Center on Medical Plaza Drive they discovered that the sculpture was stolen over the Memorial Day holiday weekend. A report states that the statue, designed by R. Tait McKenzie, was cast in 1937 and has been a corner stone to the scout office for decades. Dr. Bobby Baker, a board member and long time scouter, has volunteered a $1000 reward for the arrest and conviction of the thief. Anyone with any knowledge of the person who may have stolen the statue or it’s whereabouts is asked to call the scout office at (843) 763-0305. More at source: https://www.live5news.com/2022/06/01/thieves-make-off-with-bronze-life-sized-boy-scout-statue-n-charleston-center/ You may recall last month, two men stole the statue Grace from outside of the Girl Scouts of Southern Nevada headquarters. It has been recovered. https://www.fox5vegas.com/2022/05/12/girl-scouts-statue-recovered-after-it-was-stolen-las-vegas-headquarters/

There may be other NRA benefits - range improvements and liability insurance, either contractually or via NRA's National Youth Shooting Sports Cooperative Program Sports NRA has resources, programs and training to assist youth organizations, such as Boy Scout troops, Royal Ranger outposts, American Legion posts, JROTC units, 4-H clubs, FFA chapters, commercial summer camps and U.S. Jaycee chapters. https://www.scouting.org/outdoor-programs/properties/did-u-know/nra/ https://rangeservices.nra.org/ https://www.seqbsa.org/thanks-to-the-nra/

Legal mandates and DRP aside, local troops should develop cooperating partnerships with community schools as in lets join and help our community. This can be school cleanup projects, Eagle Projects, recycling measures (e.g. Crayon Initiative not sure it still exists). Our school principles have been grateful, cooperative, and inclined NOT to burden the Superintendent or School Board with details. Some BSA references which may help https://www.scouting.org/adopt-a-school/ School Access Training Module (2017 draft, I don't know if there is an update) https://scoutingwire.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/522-060_17SchoolIssuesFPO.pdf My $0.02,

1. Secure, separate firearm and ammunition storage. I do not want to read another story of firearms stolen from a camp. 2. Maybe move to lead-free ammunition and safer cleaning solvents. 3. Increasing cost of equipment, safety devices, ammunition, registration, insurance, licensing (taxes) may end BSA Firearms programs. All that said, I worry more about armed criminals entering a scouting event. My $0.01,

In my neck of woods, we have had a disconnect from Council and National over the past two years or so, some say it was covid, bankruptcy, or councils pre-occupied with merging or selling camps. In that time, my unit managed and re-evaluated what we needed from Council and even if we need a Council. I would say getting a Eagle BOR and paperwork processed was our biggest problem with Council. We ran our own summer camping. Our unit needs now are less and different. My $0.01

Alfred Ely Beach High School, Georgia, an example of a STEM Explorer Post ...twenty-five Medical Explorer Post students will participate in CRISPR (gene editing) Classroom’s Meet a Scientist program. In so doing, the Explorers will gain (1) an improved awareness of biotechnology careers, (2) a better understanding of the current possibilities and the problems in the industry, (3) a deeper appreciation for the real power of the scientific method... This group of Medical Explorers from the Memorial Health Medical Explorer Post and the A. E. Beach High School Medical Explorer Post will be the first high school students in Georgia to be introduced to CRISPR. More at source link https://www.savannahtribune.com/articles/savannah-students-first-in-georgia-to-be-introduced-to-crispr-gene-editing-technology-careers/

Well an hour a week anyway.

Exploring, which later split 3 ways, was created to reduce the loss of older scouts from Scouting. If there was not already a "Venturing Patrol" by name, there were Senior Scout Patrols. It worked with some troops which gave their senior scouts more freedom but mostly not. Dual enrollment did not fly either. Nature took hold, time to leave the nest. BSA recognized this early on when they created Senior Scouting in 1935. Senior Scouting included Sea Scouts, Air Scouts, and Explorers. As I recall, Air Scouts could not compete for membership with Civil Air Patrol (USAF supported). Similarly, Sea Scouts struggled for membership with Sea Cadets (USN) but survived even before affiliating with USCG Auxiliary (good move). Meanwhile Explorer's moved to a career focus; posts were supported by local police, fire, or hospitals. These programs were also largely unfettered by Council. So IMHO don't fix what is not broken, try new pilot Explorer programs, e.g., an outdoor recreation career program affiliated with National Park Service or REI or Appalachian Mountain Club or... My $0.01,