Girl Scout Camps/Properties sold or in jeopardy after 2006 GSUSA realignment
The list seems to be growing weekly. Girls DO like camping, and our camps provide an experience that can not be replicated in other environments. Please get involved and let GSUSA know that we want an immediate moratorium on the sales of our camps. Information on the status of these camps has come from info obtained from the internet or by examining council information. Please contact us with additions and/or corrections. We have not included camp closure information prior to the realignment.
New 2015 Petition Calling for changes to the National Program Portfolio
The GSUSA, Are You Listening? FB group has launched a new petition calling for changes to the National Program Portfolio. Do you want to see less emphasis on the Journeys and a return to more badges? Do you want to see more focus on outdoor programming? Do you want to see a renewed focus on GS traditions? If so, check out their petition, sign it, and pass it on! Click HERE to sign the petition.
New Outdoor Study By GSUSA Released Summer 2014
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Photo by Tom Wallace/Star Tribune, via AP
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Why Are Girl Scout Camps Being Closed?
The Girl Scouts are selling their camps, changing their program, and reportedly face serious problems with their pension liabilities. Has the iconic nonprofit lost its way?Eagle Island, a 32-acre refuge in Upper Saranac Lake, N.Y., is a National Historic Landmark and one of the finest examples of Great Camp architecture in the Adirondacks. Bequeathed to the Girl Scouts by a wealthy banker in 1937, the camp served girls in the urban enclaves of northern New Jersey for 61 years until it was “rested” and then closed several years ago. Now it’s for sale—at $3.25 million.
And Eagle Island isn’t the only Girl Scout camp on the block. READ MORE OF THIS IN-DEPTH ARTICLE by Alessandra Rafferty |
Movement to Create More outdoor Programming
The Outdoor Girl Scout Project (formerly the Outdoor Journey Group)
A movement of Girl Scout Member-Volunteers, Girl Scout Staff Members (both council and National), plus Supporters, who are working to get more official outdoor program back into Girl Scouting. Get more information about this great and very active group and what you can do to help HERE. Join in on the conversation to create this much needed Journey HERE. 
GSUSA, Are You Listening?
This page was developed by a group of GS members to provide a virtual town hall or meeting place for GS members and supporters. A place to gather, speak out, and seek change to better the Girl Scout organization. The group has completed 2 surveys and currently has an active petition calling for changes to the National Program Portfolio.
To view survey results click HERE To join in on the discusion on Facebook click HERE To sign the petition click HERE
Do you have news to share about your council's camps? Contact us with your news updates. |
SOS Camps! News
New from the New York Times:
Girl Scouts Debate Their Place in a Changing World "Membership in the Girl Scouts has fallen over the past decade to three million, from a 2003 high of close to four million in combined participation of adults and girls, and the number of Girl Scout councils across the country has fallen to 112 from 312, according to the organization." READ MORE National Convention News
Importance of the Outdoors in the GSLE "The outdoor experience has been central to Girl Scouting for generations. There was significant interest from the field in considering what role the outdoors plays in the Girl Scout experience today. As such, the National Board has included the topic “Importance of the Outdoors in the Girl Scout Leadership Experience” on the agenda. READ MORE Dissension and Fiscal Woes Beset the Girl Scouts
"I am worried that America's Girl Scouts are now selling cookies to fund pension plans instead of camping," wrote Rep. Bruce Braley, D-Iowa, in a letter last month to the committee chairman. READ MORE Stealing from girls. Stealing from communities.
"Part 1, for those who missed it, is the story of my initial shock on hearing of the proposed sale of the Girl Scout camp where I spent some of my childhood and young adult summers and my subsequent dismay at the current state of affairs of the Girl Scout Organization. Part 2 addresses the questionable sale of land and buildings donated to communites for the enjoyment of girls in those communities. Spoiler: There will be no appearances by Zombies in part 2-- theft from the girls is enough of a horror story --but perhaps a visit from beyond the grave by saddened donors will occur." READ MORE |
