Scouts plan new camp

March 26, 2006

JOEL DAVIDSON

Frontiersman reporter

MAT-SU - This summer, the Boy Scouts of America, Great Alaska Council, hopes to begin road construction on the largest Boy Scout camp in the state and one of the largest of its kind in the country.

Located near Mile 132 Parks Highway, the proposed camp site would encompass 3,200 acres between the Chulitna and Susitna Rivers, just south of Denali State Park. The Scouts currently own 2,200 acres and have applied to the Mat-Su Borough to purchase another 1,000.

Boy Scout officials expect as many as 6,000 campers from Alaska and around the world to annually make use of the Great Alaska High Adventure Base & Boy Scout Camp.

Bill Haines, Scout executive and CEO for the Great Alaska Council, said development of the proposed facility coincides with the rapidly growing ranks of Alaska Scouts. In the last two years, Cub Scouts, which serves as a feeder for Boy Scouts, has grown by 50 percent, he said. Currently, there are more than 15,000 Scouts statewide.

&#8220Our big problem is that our existing camps are totally full for the summer,” he added. &#8220We are running out of places to put kids.”

The increased Scout numbers in Alaska bucks a national trend, where many Scout councils are struggling to maintain membership.

&#8220Here in Alaska we've been very fortunate,” Haines said. &#8220In Alaska we don't have that trouble.”

According to the camp's master plan, the proposed facility is also needed, due to the fact that a 50-year-old existing Boy Scout camp on Mirror Lake is increasingly encroached upon by expanding urbanization, leading to diminished wilderness aspects to their programs.

With a larger land mass, Haines said it will be easier to maintain the pristine wilderness aspect of much of the camp, while still being able to build necessary camp buildings, roads and infrastructure.

The expectation is to spend about $12.5 million to finish to finish the camp's capital facilities by 2010, in time to celebrate the Boy Scouts' 100th anniversary.

By 2008, Boy Scouts hope to begin initial camping activities on the land, so that Scout troops can participate in the development of nature trails, troop camp areas and educational program areas.

The long-range plan is to hold summer activities at the camp as well as use it for a base camp for more high-adventure outings in the adjacent Denali State Park. When Scouts are not using the camp, they plan to rent the facility to community groups.

The project, however, is not without controversy.

While many support the proposal, some locals from Talkeetna, Trapper Creek and the surrounding areas are concerned that locating a large camp in the remote forest will encourage and accelerate development in the area, thereby spoiling natural environments.

Just south of the Boy Scout property lie 30,000 acres of borough-owned land. There is no comprehensive plan for how to use that land, and some residents fear the borough will use the camp access road to harvest timber and develop the area in coming years.

&#8220People look at it more like encroachment, and I don't think it sets well with a lot of people,” said area resident Steve Hicks, who serves as president of the Su Valley Parent Teachers Association. &#8220It's nothing against the Boy Scouts, it's just that they want to take this pristine area and develop it.”

In conversations with local leaders and community councils, Haines said people keep asking him what the borough plans to do with the land south of the proposed camp.

&#8220That's the biggest concern,” he said. &#8220They don't know what the borough plans for the area south of us and we don't have an answer.”

Ron Swanson, the Mat-Su Borough's director of community development, said he's working on a comprehensive plan, but so far there is nothing on the books. Swanson said he plans to sit down with the Boy Scouts and with local community councils to receive input before drafting a comprehensive plan for the borough assembly's consideration.

More than a year ago, Swanson drafted a comprehensive plan in response to the Boy Scouts' plan for a camp. At that time, the Scouts planned to allow Princess Tours to access their property but not allow the public. After considerable community outcry, the Scouts scratched the idea.

&#8220I put the comprehensive plan on hold until things settled down,” Swanson said, while adding that the Boy Scouts application to purchase an additional 1,000 acres is on hold until he can draft a master comprehensive plan for the area.

As for those who fear that the Scouts might turn around and develop the camp land for profit in the future, Swanson said that's not part of the agreement.

The Scouts can't sell the land, he explained, unless it goes through the public process and the borough assembly approves such a move.

&#8220Can they subdivide and sell it for homes?” Swanson added. &#8220Absolutely not. It has to be used for nonprofit.”

Haines said the Scouts have no intention of selling the land anyway.

&#8220The Boy Scouts buy property forever,” he said. &#8220We need more land for the kids. It's hard to get it, and we need to hang onto it once we have it.”

For now, Haines said he will continue community outreach efforts in order to give the public a clearer understanding of the Boy Scouts' proposal. More information about the camp is available online at www.bsawac.org.

Contact Joel Davidson at 352-2266 or joel.davidson@frontiersman.com.