Boy Scouts: Forget Trustworthiness, Conservation

[Stingo]

Today’s Boy Scouts have been embroiled in issues concerning religion and gay and lesbian rights, that’s for suere, but who would have thought they would support clearcutting over conservation, despite the wishes of the man who donated the land to them. Perhaps they are adding a clearcutting merit badge to the list of honors a boy can earn?

http://allspinzone.com/wp/2009/02/01/boy-scouts-forget-trustworthiness-conservation/

[Smarm E. Doofus]

1. Group think.

The more they alienate prople who disagree with compulsory monotheism and compulsory heterosexuality the more they will be talking to themselves.An echo chamber, if you will.

Result: they were skirting the edge, now they've fallen off.

[Stingo]

2. They are now doing the same

instead of enemies of the irreligious and gays, they are now enemies to trees. The planet comes next.

[cpamomfromtexas]

3. The problem isn't the boys, it's the corporate "scouters" that run the place

I'm a volunteer for the scouts since both my boys are scouts and the corporate structure of the scouts is ridiculous. I'm sure some are good at what they do, but by and large the fat cats are people that have hung around so they don't have to get real jobs. Is it any wonder they are so much like republicans?

[bemildred]

4. Yeah, they are parasites on the local organizations. nt

[eagertolearn]

8. I believe there are good leaders in boyscouts but the fat cats who

infiltrate every organization ruin it for everyone else. My son is also a boyscout and it has been so good for him since he hasn't been interested in sports or band. The leadership skills they learn will help them for the rest of their life! But I discovered the same problem in girl scouts when I was a leader. I went to a big Jamboree and the main leaders were these huge women riding around in golf carts ordering everyone else around and doing a terrible job of running this big event. It was many of the kids first time away from home and all they got was someone yelling at them all the time. When I realized what a joke it all was I got out of it. These leaders who were the rejects who couldn't get real jobs!

[Still Sensible]

10. Absolutely, that is the most 'wrong' thing about

the Boy Scouts. It was an okay organization as far as I was concerned when I was scout (in the 60s), but it has evolved into something really different.

[BlueGADawg]

5. Any alternatives?

I had great experiences as a scout growing up and am so sad my son will never get to have the same experiences I did. We never heard about this stuff 30 years ago when I was one, I wonder what happened. My wife and I refuse to let him participate like it is now. I'm an Atheist and two of out best friend are gay so there is no way we could ever support them. Are there any similar alternatives out there? I've heard of the Campfire Boys and Girls- anyone know much about them? Their website doesn't really get into too many specifics about what they do, but they are apparently all inclusive.

[Stingo]

9. I'm in much the same boat

My son is 25 days old today, but he will not be a boy scout, and that means he's not going to learn about the outdoors as much as I did. That saddens me. Perhaps I will look for scout troops that turn their noses up at national policies.

[cpamomfromtexas]

11. I think the alternative is to dig in and take over.

[Mopar151]

12. 4-H nt

[HillWilliam]

6. We live about a mile from one of the reservations

and got some pix of the devastation. It's just gawdawful ugly. It looks like something exploded in there. There's no understory, no lower habitat left. Now we're dodging deer and small wildlife in the road every evening that are trying to find some cover and forage. Not only did the Boy Scouts log-out the reservation, they left an absolute mess of trash, unwanted logs, and perfect fire tinder behind. This summer when it gets hot and dry, the first lightening-strike in there will cause the reservation (and all our homes that surround it) to go up. That scares the living shit out of me.

It's vastly irresponsible on so, so many levels. I hope they can afford the lawsuits when that shit goes up in flames during a storm. Our county doesn't have the money or the manpower to fight a fire that all the fuel laying around in there will cause. Worse, they left a perfect place for copperheads and rattlers to gather -- and they're going to let kids camp and wander around in that.

Irresponsible, stupid, and greedy. Sounds like a typical repuke-oriented organization. Some fine "family values" they're teaching there. :sarcasm:

[Stingo]

7. Used to be boy scouts

practiced and taught conservation. Alas, it seems now they practice ad teach the rape of the earth.

[Igel]

13. 400 acres, "parts" clearcut.

Where I lived, 400 acres was barely worth clear-cutting.

I was in Scouts in MD in the '70s. We used to go to Broad Creek every summer. In '74 or '75 there was a big conservation push ("Project S.O.A.R.", save our American resources). As part of saving our American resources, we spent one-two days out of our week there (or was it two weeks?) thinning natural growth woods. It was hot, humid, and we were covered with sap by the end of the day. The trees were simply growing too close together, we were told, so we cut down the ones marked, chopped off the branches, and dragged them and the bigger branches down the hillside to the nearest road.

One of the men assisting the Scoutmaster that year was in his 70s or 80s, and he pointed to the acres and acres of pine forest to the west of our campsite, true monoculture--the same kind of pine tree, every tree the same number of feet from its neighbors, in neat staggered rows. Very little grew through the thick mat of pine needles on the forest floor, it was pretty dark there even at noon, the lowest branches were at least 6=7 feet off the ground. Only where roads ran through was it a jungle because of the additional light.

"My" troop had planted them when he was Scout master 2-3 decades before. It was considered best practice when he planted them, he said, and considered stupid in the mid '70s.

We asked why they'd planted them. Silly question: There weren't any trees there. What had happened to the trees that were there before? They'd been clear cut.

What happened to the trees we culled when I was there? Mostly they were chipped or pulped for paper. Why were we thinning them? So the remaining trees could grow bigger and ... be cut. It was a large campground, so every few years they logged a section of it. Fees and donations didn't cover the cost of the campground, and I guess our "volunteer" labor helped pay our keep.

[Stingo]

14. I remember SOAR

I was in Ohio at the same time as a boy scout. Camp Manitoc, but Camp Butler was next door, and a bit rougher camp. We used to deal with the vegetation between the camps so that there was a reliable trail between them. More trailmaking than conservation, though we surely didn't destroy any ecosystem along the way.

[annabanana]

15. Witness the alliance of the church and the chamber of commerce

. . for kids in uniforms.

(I am not a fan)