Scouting, Volume 63, Number 1, January-February 1975 Page: 33
This periodical is part of the collection entitled: Scouting Magazine and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the Boy Scouts of America National Scouting Museum.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
Eight Scout groups to one of every other youth group camp in our
state and national parks. Our job: Conserve these threatened areas.
L.
i"
Nestled in a sheltered pocket on the
southeast side of Mt. Marcy in the
Adirondack Mountains of upper New
York State is a log shelter that stands
beside the tiny Lake of Tears.
Sitting in front of the lean-to on a
still summer afternoon, a man can see
the rocky summit of Mt. Marcy twice,
once towering into the sky and also
reflected upside down in the clear wa-
ters of the pond, the highest and per-
haps purest source of the Hudson Riv-
er. The only sound is the droning of
bees in the herbs and moss that fringe
an ice-cold spring behind the shelter.
It is a beautiful and peaceful spot. At
least, that is the way I remembered it.
But when I led a bunch of older
Scouts into the clearing some years
later after a tough day-long climb over
Marcy that had started at first light
many miles to the north, it looked con-
siderably different.
Most of the wild growth was gone,
beaten into the earth by the weight of
large camping parties that had over-
flowed the lean-to into the clearing
behind it. In place of grass, there was
a carpet of pop-top can openers,
broken glass, bits of film and foil from
food packages. Here and there, the
ground was studded with rings of fire-
blackened stones. In the shallows of
the pond and in the spring hole, metal
waste was mixed with spaghetti
worms and the bleached grubs of oth-
er kinds of food, leftovers of after-
meal washups.
Up the rocky hill behind the clearing
were numerous three-foot-high stubs
of trees, waiting only for darkness to
disembowel a wandering camper. It
was evident that many campers had
not only commited the crime of cutting
green trees, doubly sinful in this tough
growing environment near treeline, but
were also too lazy even to bend over
and cut them flush with the ground.
Everywhere up the slope, tucked
into rock crevices or openly scattered
like miniature snowfields were pock-
ets of dirty toilet paper. The outhouse
had been knocked over and torn apart
for firewood. The pit, almost filled with
garbage, was useless anyway for its
original purpose.
Whoever could commit such crimes
against nature? Not Scouts, anyway!
Well, as a matter of fact, the odds
are Scouts were involved. And even if
other youth groups helped in the de-
struction, chances are that Scouts
would still get most of the blame for
the desecration.
Whoa there! How can anyone make
such a slanderous statement about
Scouts?
"Scouts are no worse than any other
group of young campers. In fact,
they're better than most. Less than 5
percent of Scouting groups vandalize
the wilderness," says Bill Wadsworth,
Director of the BSA's High Adventure
Program.
"But there are eight Scout groups to
one of every other youth group camp-
ing in our state and national parks. So,
numerically, there are more careless
Scouts than any other single group of
campers. And rangers, being human,
tend to remember the bad groups far
longer than the good. In fact, since
Scouts are about the only uniformed
group in the wild, they are doubly
memorable."
That public officials aren't the only
ones to look askance at Scout groups
is evidenced by sharp criticism of
Scouts that is finding its way with in-
creasing frequency via articles and
letters to the editor in outdoor and
conservation magazines. The univer-
sal theme is damnation to ax- and
saw-wielding Scouts.
ETHICS
FOR
CAMPERS
BY ROBERT J. KELSEY
33
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Periodical.
Boy Scouts of America. Scouting, Volume 63, Number 1, January-February 1975, periodical, January 1975; New Brunswick, New Jersey. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth353656/m1/33/?rotate=270: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Boy Scouts of America National Scouting Museum.