Interesting, particularly in lieu of comments on here

[skeptic]

http://scoutingmagazine.org/2011/12/from-the-chief-get-our-scouts-outside/

[Basementdweller]

Many more scouters read this forum and don't post.

 

Scouts indoors retention drops, get them camping and outdoors retention goes up.

 

Give them what they want and they will stay.

[desertrat77]

Concur 100 percent--outdoor adventure is the BSA's time-tested, guaranteed winning recipe. It transcends every fad and theory to the contrary.

 

Of interest, I stumbled across this website, which is a treasure trove of Philmont guidebooks, ranger training guides, trek information, and such, from the beginning up to today:

 

http://philmontdocs.watchu.org/

 

It is amazing how similar the guidance is from about the '60s onward. Someone figured out what works, and it seems that scouting leadership has careful to preserve the great formula.

 

The biggest change that I've detected in Philmont practices is the transition from using cooking fires for every meal to use of backpacking stoves in the '90s. As a scout who was on an August trek in the '70s (right at the end of the season), I would have welcomed stove use then, as the woods were fairly picked clean of wood near campsites.

 

Otherwise, the same Philmont spirit can be detected in each generation of documents. Kudos to Philmont!

 

 

[OldGreyEagle]

C'mon Skeptic, having a Chief Scout Executive that backs the "outing" in Scouting program would be anathema to the supposed status quo and force many people to alter their rock solid belief only they are the true guardians of scouting in the US.

 

 

[skeptic]

OGE; Do I sense a smidgen of sarcasm?

[SR540Beaver]

Oh my, if Kudu were dead, he'd be spinning in his grave!

[Adam S]

YAY Watchu Philmont training Thanks Desertrat

 

This is our councils 18 month long Philmont training program. The folks who run it do a great job, we send about 20 crews a year to Philmontbecause they are getting people interested in High Adventure and giving them the skills to have a great time. These folsk should absolutely get credit for some of our retention in Patriots' Path Council!

 

 

[Kudu]

"The leadership skills our young people learn while hiking, camping, and being stewards to the outdoors are lessons that last for a lifetime."

 

Indeed, our CSE should be praised for promoting the BSA's four Disneyland destinations.

 

If only his use of the term "leadership skills" signalled a reversal of its meaning since 1972: Taking away Green Bar Bill's "Intensive Training in the Green Bar Patrol" designed to teach Patrol Leaders how to organize their own hiking and camping without constant adult "association" (if only within the context of a Troop's "weekend overnight trip to a local camp").

 

Yours at 300 feet,

 

Kudu

 

"Camping is not necessarily a big thing with them, as a matter of fact in some cases it is not big at all."

 

http://inquiry.net/leadership/sitting_side_by_side_with_adults.htm

 

[fred8033]

Nice article ... except I wish it was a requirement that the chief scout always be photographed outside and in uniform. Hard to promote an outdoor program in a suit on a comfy executive leather chair. Google BP. He's always in his scout uniform if it's scout related. And almost always in uniform still when not scout related. LOL.

[SR540Beaver]

Posted in wrong thread.(This message has been edited by sr540beaver)

[SMT224]

I'm sure he's talking about winter camping!

 

What could build confident leaders better than the seriousness of camping in snow at 17 degrees!

 

Although I really don't feel like things get serious until it's below 0.

 

 

[qwazse]

It would be nice if Bob issued a resolution for an uptic in tour plans submitted for patrol hikes and overnighters.

[Kudu]

qwazse,

 

That's what health & safety committees with Den Leaders trained to "understand" the Patrol Method are for