New Scout Camp in W Va

[Apache Bob]

I may have missed reading about this in the forum. If so I still would like to know.

Where exactly in West Virginia did nation purchase the 10,000 acres for the new camp?

Thanks in advance for your help.

[boomerscout]

Local site selected for National Scouting Center

 

Agreement reached for BSA to purchase 10,000 acres in Glen Jean, Mount Hope area

 

By Jackie Ayres

Register-Herald Reporter

 

The Boy Scouts of America announced Monday they have entered into a purchase and sales agreement with the Meadow Creek Coal Corporation for more than 10,000 acres of land in the Glen Jean-Mount Hope area to locate a National Scouting Center, which will include a new high-adventure base.

 

BSA chose the Garden Ground Mountain site, in the New River Gorge region, after assessing 80 proposals from 28 states.

 

BSA is now in the process of submitting an application to the Fayette County Commission for rezoning the property, which BSA says will provide the Boy Scouts with the flexibility to grow for the next 100 years in West Virginia and to potentially add more than the high-adventure base if that opportunity presents itself.

 

The BSA still has not confirmed where the National Scout Jamboree will be relocated. That event, which attracts thousands of scouts from all over the world each year, has been held at Fort A. P. Hill Virginia since 1981 but will be moving from that location after next years event.

 

The BSA says it is currently conducting an extensive due diligence process to determine the feasibility of locating the Jamboree at the Goshen Scout Reservation in Rockbridge County, Va. However, it has been rumored that West Virginia is also being considered as a permanent home for the National Jamboree.

 

- - -

 

In a press release, BSA said they chose West Virginia for the National Scouting Center because of its unique offerings, including some of the best whitewater rafting, rappelling, mountain biking and other activities not found anywhere else.

 

We are extremely excited about West Virginia playing such an important role in the National Scouting Center and in expanding our existing high adventure bases, said Jack Furst, chairman of the National Scouting Center project and member of the BSA National Board.

 

The beauty of the New River Gorge region and the opportunity for world-class high adventure and other outdoor activities speaks for itself. This will offer a tremendous, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Scouts coming from all over the country.

 

Currently, BSA has three existing high-adventure bases in New Mexico, Minnesota and Florida. Annually, these three bases serve more than 50,000 youths, with 20,000 more wait-listed.

 

According to Judy Radford, executive director of the 4-C Economic Development Authority, the New Mexico high-adventure base is comparable to the base slated for West Virginia.

 

With this in mind, Radford estimates that approximately 80 new jobs will be created annually along with 1,000 seasonal jobs. This will create an annual payroll of about $6 million. It will also inject about $10 million annually into the economy, Radford said.

 

The high-adventure base may open as early as 2012.

 

The BSA expects to close on the new property sometime this fall.

 

The experience in West Virginia has been just incredible from Governor Manchins office, to the local officials in Fayette County, to the National Park Service it has truly been a partnership throughout every step of the way, Furst said.

 

We are moving from vision to reality in West Virginia. There are many steps along the way, and we are very excited about the opportunities we can bring to this region of the state.

 

E-mail: jayres@register-herald.com

 

 

[Buffalo Skipper]

Coordinates, gentlemen and ladies. We need lat and long....

 

How else can we locate these things on our nautical charts and shipboard GPS plotters?

[SSScout]

Well, there goes the neighborhood.

 

North of Beckley, WV. near the confluence of the New River and US 19, I77, I64.

 

Bungee Jumping MB?

 

Ecology Studies? Land reclamation?

 

Hard rock mining?

 

Thurmond's a nice take out.

 

(This message has been edited by SSScout)

[cardinal50]

Another good thing about this location is the proximity to rail transportation. Amtrak's Cardinal, trains 50 & 51 travel through the New River Gorge between Chicago and New York City via Washington DC.

It only runs three times a week currently but I'll bet if scouts start clamoring to arrive by train, Amtrak would consider going to a daily schedule with longer trains. I know many troops use Amtrak to get to Philmont.

 

Dave