Boy Scouts of America says Jamboree in 2013 is out

[imasoonerfan]

If this is actually the case then this is sad. Surely they can find an alternate location to hold this. What about the city in Arkansas that 'came in second'?

 

http://www.wsls.com/sls/news/local/article/boy_scouts_of_america_says_jamboree_in_2013_is_out/35253/

[Eagle732]

I heard from our District rep. that the new home for the Jambo was going to be Goshen Scout Reservation in VA. Also a High Adventure Camp in WV.

[Eagle732]

No specifics but here's a story on the search for a permanent home.

http://www.scouters.us/jamboree/jambo.html

 

 

[sandspur]

Sound like the usual NIMBY stuff (Not In My Back Yard). There is always some group that does not want anything new and altered in their area. If it is a road, factory, park or wind power farm, someone is against it.

Hard to believe they will prevail against the economic impact of 250,000 visitors on the local economy. Especially these days.

 

[scoutldr]

"After hearing what people in the audience had to say, the BSA added evacuation to that list. The Boy Scouts of America representatives say they have never faced opposition like this."

 

Would have been nice if the reporter had been able to actually REPORT on what the opposition consisted of.

 

Didn't take long for the reader comments to deteriorate into the GLBT thing, which I presume had nothing to do with the meeting.

 

 

[Nike]

When I lived in Augusta, GA, I always took off during Master's Week.

 

Jamboree is eight days every four years. Get a life.

[emb021]

Actually, the Jamboree is about a 2 week event. Longer for some staffers.

 

 

But, yeah, its not quite like its happening every year even.

[Hal_Crawford]

If you want to know about the people against this then look at their website/blog http://www.savegoshenpass.com/ No mention of GLBT issues at all and I don't think that the would resonate in that particular area. The issues are environmental with a heaping dose of NIMBY.

 

 

 

 

 

[Mr. Boyce]

This is quite an overreaction.

[acco40]

The BSA and WOSM want to make the National Jamboree and World Jamboree alternate every two years - thus the 2013 (and not four year later in 2014) for the National Jamboree. I didn't like moving the date from 2009 to 2010 (excluded many Scouts for a second Jambo including my two sons!) The 100 year anniversary be damned.

 

I'd rather see Jambo rotated like they did in the past. If not, why not pick a central location - Missouri Ozarks, Big Sky country, etc. and not the east or west coasts.

 

* Have spectacular natural beauty (Fort AP Hill had natural beauty?)

* Have water for recreational activities (Fort AP Hill had swimming pools brought in!)

* Be at least 5,000 acres and available for donation, long-term lease

(100-plus years), or sale

* Be within 25 miles of an interstate or a four-lane divided highway

* Be within 150 miles of a commercial service airport with medium or

large hub status

* Be in an area with adequate medical services

* Be accessible year-round via standard modes of transportation

 

[CalicoPenn]

I'll bet if it was suggested that a permanent Jamboree site be built at Philmont Scout Ranch, where the BSA has plenty of land, we'll see an awful lot of Scouters develop an interesting brand of Nimbyism.

 

I've visited this area - it is beautiful. I can't blame the residents for not wanting a facility with a permanent arena potentially seating up to 100,000 people to be built there. And the economics? 250,000 people once every 4 years isn't some great boon the the local economy. Unless the BSA ponies up the bucks to pay for all the services used during that time, it will likely cost the people more than they could possibly make from it.

 

I'd support a deal with the US Government for part of Fort AP Hill. Turn over management of 10K to 20K acres of Fort AP Hill for the construction of, and use of, a Jamboree site in exchange for making the National Park Service the undisputed recipient of Philmont Scout Reservation should the BSA ever shut down.

[mdlscouting]

I'm wondering if there could be any area that currently already supports seasonal events.

 

For example, I live in Concord NC, and the local Speedway has major events 2x/year, where the population of the town doubles, each race week.

 

If an area could be found that supports this sort of seasonal event, already, it might be more amenable to the idea of a permanent Jamboree home. (Not suggesting Concord NC, merely saying a place w/ that kind of seasonal event schedule.)

[GernBlansten]

Do you think the BSA would ever reconsider the root cause for this relocation quest?

[Pack212Scouter]

Amazing how single sided these environmental stories are. Our Council here is having potions of the reservations logged out too. You know why? We had an ice storm followed by a severe windstorm. The timber at these sites was severely impacted. After being there this spring, my guess would be 70-80% of the timber in some areas was down. So..instead of selling it and restoring an area that would be unusable and an eyesore, I guess the environmentalists would rather it'd be left to rot until it became enough of a fire hazard that it all burned.

 

As for the Jamboree site, I understand that BSA wants to develop it into a year-round facility. So yes, there would be the huge economic impact every four years, but there would also be a smaller continual economic impact.

[Nike]

I personally think the Jamboree should rotate: East, Mid-west, Southwest, and Idaho/Montana.

 

But, I do understand BSA's economic desire to get their own permanent home where they can tailor the infrastructure and have year round use.