yknot

If BSA wants to tacitly make room in the tent for folks who don't really want to fully integrate girls, LGBTQ+, trans, etc., in their units, that's fine and their right as a private organization. But they have no problem pointing to all the DEI statements and actions they have taken since at least 2015 in response to sponsorship withdrawals, PR crises, and membership declines that say the opposite when marketing and promoting the program to the public. BSA should either address it or be honest and say DEI isn't consistently applied at the unit level.

I think it was poor forecasting more than anything else. They started it when scouting had already experienced significant declines and hit an almost 50% drop by the time they closed. The declines were influenced largely by changing demographics and not Covid or bankruptcy; at that point its financial problems were many and unrelated to those things. It was also pointed out it made no sense to try to build local membership with an expensive national center. I'm not aware what market research was done on its scout appeal, but it was never on the list for our units -- they wanted Philmont or Sea Base for exotic high adventure. For a lot of people in the eastern US, that kind of Appalachian terrain is beautiful but already accessible locally.

You have to wonder how anyone responsible for the Summit mess is still serving. He should have resigned. I'm a little worried Roger Krone will see Summit as a legacy building project and focus his efforts on trying to turn it around vs. addressing some of the more mundane issues that hamper program, like declining volunteerism. National Meeting is coming up. Hopefully we'll hear something about what he has been doing other than making videos for the past six months which, while good, haven't resulted in any visible action so far.

There are incredible pressures on kids today, but I'm not so sure scouting is much of an antidote to that anymore either. There can be just as much pressure to be "the best" and to achieve Eagle, and if kids don't or aren't as interested in the advancement process -- "First Class, First Year" -- they can feel like failures the same as they can in any other arena. It's an adult driven disease that has permeated almost every aspect of childhood -- first, best, most, etc.

This is timely. Ever since a mountain lion from South Dakota was hit by a car in Connecticut around 2011, it has become apparent that young adult males are dispersing widely from established populations. They can turn up almost anywhere in places where they haven't been seen in 150 years and a surprising number of state wildlife agencies are reporting confirmed sightings the past few years. I can say in our area, scouts don't get any education about them but they probably should start.

Yes, it's really interesting to look at. There is a lot of ongoing research, there is a lot of viewable citizen science you can access on things like eBird, and it is also easy to notice things locally on your own. First of spring arrival and nesting dates are being recorded earlier and earlier for many species. Where I am, American woodcock arrivals and breeding displays used to be an early March to April event and are now more of a late February to mid March thing. We'd see them commonly at one camp out that traditionally occurs late March. Now, if I want to see them in any number there, I have to visit by early March. Black vultures, more of a southerly species, used to be uncommon here but are now so common they seem to be pushing out the native turkey vultures.

Those embellishments are your own, not mine. I made what I think is an accurate statement and I was actually trying to couch it so as to not offend. Talk to a cross section of school age kids and parents. Some of the things people argue the existence of on this forum are very hard to process, and this is just the latest that has left me blank.

I often think the reactions of some of the scouters on this site to certain things might be due to the fact that they perhaps no longer have younger kids involved in a public school district themselves. Or, if they do, their involvement may be limited to a more insular community like a scouts/church continuum. Some simply may not be exposed to things that seem very commonplace or mainstream to others.

Good article. I too went from having dozens in the yard to zero. I did see some last year and a few so far this year, so regionally there may be rebound. You can search eBird for your state to keep track. Disease events are somewhat normal, and ideally a species should be numerous enough to rebound. As the article notes, though, so many species are in serious decline from the cumulative effects of habitat loss, human interference, etc., that it's a bit concerning. Not sure where it will wind up. Last year, I had very few warblers despite normally having large flights of multiple species. I tell kids to get out now and see some of these things, like the linked American woodcock, while they are still relatively common. In the future, they may not be as easy to see. The Bird Study MB is the most accessible of all the outdoors badges -- while binoculars are nice, scouts can study birds for free almost anywhere and almost any time, even at night, and can even do so with limited mobility.

Winter birding highlights are over in my neck of the woods, but spring migration brings plenty to look at, even at night: Birdcast went live March 1 for the spring migration season. As noted in a fall post, it uses radar to track what is flying overhead at night and what kind of local fall out might occur in the morning. A good forecast, combined with full moon and clear skies, means scouts can birdwatch after sundown: Binoculars trained on the moon can see silhouettes of hundreds to thousands of songbirds migrating in night skies. https://birdcast.info/migration-tools/live-migration-maps/ American woodcock have made an appearance at most of our March campouts over the years, and have often peaked interest in the Bird Study MB thanks to their breeding displays and behavior. Another species that can be studied at night, this is a link to a current migration and population research project: https://www.woodcockmigration.org/ Sandhill Cranes are rare in many places but elsewhere in the country they stage north in huge numbers -- a sight to see. This 24 hour live cam at Rowe tracks them now through April: https://explore.org/livecams/birds/crane-camera

Those percentages are a function of the fact that more children are cared for by women with, in many cases the fathers absent or marginally present, and how laws don't extend any culpability to fathers. The study you posted here elucidates that on page 10. When a pregnant woman abuses drugs and is charged with child abuse, the state doesn't also charge the father who may have not only taken the drugs with her but may have even supplied them.

Other youth organizations have met similar challenges of having to adapt to changing demographics and, at least in terms of membership, been able to maintain or succeed where scouting has flagged. In BSA scouting, it's been a decades long leadership problem. Good leadership can motivate and herd the cats into some kind of common path. I think a lot depends on who Roger Krone is and on what he does in the near future.

Most of these programs are pretty well publicized to the employee and most of the council websites near me have a matching gifts/volunteer button with search tool for volunteers to find out if a company has one. If your council isn't publicizing it, keep bringing it up at Roundtables and see what happens. Keep in mind some people like to keep their giving habits private, so saying they know nothing about it might be an easier way for them to say stay out of my stuff.

It just may mean they are volunteering somewhere else and donating the hours there or even to another charity if they choose. Many of these corporate giving programs are capped in some way. At least that's my understanding.

Part of the reason for that might be that many corporate giving programs exclude religious organizations unless it is a separate entity, like a food bank that serves the entire community. If your CO is a church for example many companies won't issue funds unless the scout unit has its own 501c3 and is open to the community at large, not just members of the church.

@AwakeEnergyScouter, you might want to read a subdiscussion among some of the regular commentators under the thread "2022 Membership Numbers". It was in Issues & Politics, starting on about the top of page 5 with a post by Eagledad. Click as well on the links in subsequent posts by other regular commentors, although to be fair I don't recall Qwaze in that one, for the illuminating articles and interviews with people like Jordan Peterson and James Damore which some of them posted to support their views, or others agreed with. The discussion dismayingly goes on for about 48 posts to page 8. Having been part of that discussion two years ago, I don't see any apologies due from your court.

Scouting can be great for many kids but for some it can also feel like they are being benched if they aren't into the increasing focus on advancement and Eagle. About 60 million kids out of 74 million are involved in sports. 4-H has been growing steadily and there are 6.5 million US kids enrolled. Obviously, these activities are increasingly appealing and affordable to a broader range of kids. There are less than a million in scouts and that decline has not been caused by sports or 4-H or anything other than scouting's own difficulties in remaining relevant, relatable and accessible to kids.

It can be extremely memorable, but so can a winning sports season. Kids are individuals and if they and their families have to make choices, they should be making them based on the full picture.

Cornell's backyard bird count is next week for anyone with interested scouts. It's also a great community awareness/recruitment opportunity. https://www.birdcount.org/

Well, I think a culture of growth would incorporate different attitudes and practices towards girls in scouting. Does anyone have early 2024 membership numbers yet by the way? That's probably the clearest indication of where we might be headed.

Hi. I didn't say that. You are actually quoting Armymutt.

Indigenous groups are no different than any of the immigrant groups that have arrived here. These are communities like any other that are capable of working out ways to deal with contentious issues in their past -- there's no difference with anyone else. That's what these laws are meant to do.

The problem with membership is organizational.

This came out a few weeks ago in the typical BSA dribbling way. The $25 new scout fee was a terrible idea so it's good they got rid of it. I'm still waiting to see 2024 membership numbers. I am guessing membership numbers were lower so it made more financial sense to get $5 from everyone vs. $25 from fewer than anticipated new members.

I don't know how the new law affects this but in the past, affiliated or even unaffiliated tribes had a pathway to request them for funerary ceremonies if remains or if objects for their own musuems.