A group dedicated to halting the proposed closing of some Girl Scout camp locations says they’ve won a battle but the war might still be on.
The Save Our Scout Camps! group is petitioning the council to hold a special meeting to allow all members of the council to vote on any proposed property sales, including those that might be proposed in the future. The group posted a notice on their new website, calling for members to send written requests for the meeting to the council. All members ages 14 or older can participate in the petition.
Ten percent of the council membership must petition for that matter to be considered.
Girl Scout councils across the U.S. have considered closing or limiting sites for summer camping, citing lower interest in the traditional camping experience.
Four camp locations that serve the Girl Scouts of Eastern Iowa and Western Illinois council were among those facing closure. Faced with a court injunction, the council withdrew initial plans to sell the campgrounds and went back to work to make new plans for the sites.
The council passed the new plan April 11, 2013 which would create one central, modernized residential camp for year-round use at Camp Conestoga in new Liberty, Iowa. Portions of the remaining three camps – Camp Tahigwa, Camp Little Cloud and Cam L-Kee-Ta – would be used for overnights and troop meetings, and unneeded land at all four sites would be sold.
Some members of “Save Our Scout Camps” say the plan still allows the council to sell off camp sites.
The group has launched a new website to support their efforts to convince the council to keep the land. The site says SOS is concerned that there is still no way to know how much land will be sold at any of the four facilities.