BoyandGirlScouts.com – News, Opinion, Advice

7 February 2009

The Boy Scouts Logging Controversy

Posted by admin under: funding .

When I first read the Hearst newspapers hit piece on the Boy Scouts of America last week I figured it was just the way things were. Dan over at ScoutingNews.org was one of the first blogs I checked on to see a reaction to the story. He already had the Boy Scouts of America’s response posted. 27 pages of answers that sounded like they’d been vetted by multiple teams of lawyers until any relation to normal speech was completely drained (to feel the full mind-numbing effect of legalese, click here). It took only a couple of lines to recognize that the article was a complete attack on the BSA. Inflammatory is an appropriate description of the story.

Scouts’ dishonor
Despite a proclaimed love of the environment, the Boy Scouts of America is clear-cutting and logging to raise cash
By LEWIS KAMB, Hearst Newspapers
First published in print: Thursday, January 29, 2009

For nearly a century, the Boy Scouts of America have proudly described themselves as conservationists, good stewards of the land.

“The Boy Scouts were green before it was cool to be green,” said Deron Smith, the organization’s national spokesman.

But for decades, local Boy Scouts of America administrations across the country have clear-cut or otherwise conducted high-impact logging on tens of thousands of acres of forestland, often for the love of a different kind of green: Cash.

A Hearst Newspapers investigation has found dozens of cases over the last 20 years of local Boy Scout councils logging or selling prime woodlands to big timber interests, developers or others, turning quick money and often doing so instead of seeking ways to preserve such lands.

“In public, they say they want to teach kids about saving the environment,” said Jane Childers, a longtime Scouting volunteer in Washington who has fought against Scouts’ logging. “But in reality, it’s all about the money.”

So, it was obvious to see the direction of the story. However, even Lewis couldn’t tell an outright lie so there were plenty of modifiers.

In some cases, councils have sought to use revenues from logging or land sales
documents since 1990 also found… (in case you weren’t paying attention that means they searched for anything they could get their hands on going back for 20% of the entire existence of the Boy Scouts of America.
Several councils submitted logging plans with inaccurate and incomplete information

There’s even defense of the BSA in the article

Some councils selectively logged and thinned trees as a way to remove hazard trees, reduce fire risks, improve habitat, and overall create and maintain healthy forests.
Dozens of councils have implemented long-range management plans with assistance from professional foresters to help better manage woodlands, records also show.

However, the overall tone implies that the Boy Scouts is hypocritical to say that they are a conservation minded organization while allowing logging on small portions of their properties over a 20 year period. Lewis even uses the Philmont Scout Ranch as an example of how irresponsible and money-ahead-of-environment the BSA is. And that says it all right there.

Any Scouter who knows anyone who has gone to Philmont can tell you what a gigantic colo-rectal exam is involved with a tour there. There are so many regulations and ways to get kicked off the property for not following strict guidelines it’s sobering and laughable at the same time. One our Scouts had spilled so much food on himself during his trek that he was required to disrobe nightly in order to put his aromatic clothing in the bear bin. Food dropped on the ground was picked up immediately under threat of expulsion (and most times it was eaten). So, for a reporter who has spent months of time investigating a story about environmental stewardship of the BSA to claim that the use of Philmont is an example of poor conservation is beyond ridiculous.

Just in case that thrown mess doesn’t stick, though, Lewis regurgitates the old gays in the BSA schtick and throws in some class warfare for extra seasoning. I’m not thrilled that the professionals make so much more than me, but I’m not in the thick of it and I don’t know what you need to pay to attract talented help. The BSA is mostly doing well and enacting initiatives to handle membership issues and modernization. It doesn’t sound like a bunch of fat cats sitting around collecting free money off the labor of kids.

It’s no wonder, then, that the BSA response seemed kind of evasive and dismissive. They knew what kind of attack was coming and didn’t plan to give extra ammunition to their opponents.

The best analysis I read was from Scouting with the Mouse and mirrors a lot of my own thoughts.

However, please note that these numbers are since 1990. That means that Philmont Scout Ranch has logged an average of about 560 acres a year. Philmont consists of 137,493 acres so that is approximately 0.4% of their land. Even if they logged all 10,092 acres at one time that would be only 7% of their land. I’m sure that Scouts can find some pristine and unlogged parts of land on which they can conduct their backcountry hikes and trips on the remaining 93% or 127,000+ acres of land.
…
And that’s the real issue here — balance. Did the BSA correctly balance their need for revenue (which all business must have, even not-for-profit businesses) with their need to maintain the environment so that future generations of Scouts can have the outdoor experience that is integral to the Scouting program? Did most councils do so in a manner that has been legal and defendable? I believe that they have and hope they will continue to do so.

I think most did, too, and even the mistakes that were uncovered were generally not the fault of the BSA but third-parties contracted to do the logging.

With that being said I’ve become very wary of the councils when it comes to camp properties. We lost one of our high desert camps a few years ago and it has been said that only the clever clauses of the original land grants have prevented others from being sold. So, of course I believe that some councils could have logged more than they should have in order to raise revenues for the rest of their program. Lewis tries to make it sound like that’s standard operating procedures, but it’s not. Lewis implies that the BSA is being dishonest, but they’re not. There are only about 30 other ways to analyze this piece, but I’m going to leave with this: the article raises some points that may have rare validity, but generally it was an attempt to deprive the BSA of environmental and liberal support so that the organization eventually ceases to exist. I really believe that.

Possibly Related Posts:

• Philmont Planning on Getting Taller and Wider
• BSA: Labor Pains
• Necessary Evil
• Funding Falls – Will 2009 Be Bleak?
• Time to Move to Grundy County

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