Scouts sell off camps under strain from sex abuse suits – By Pat Eaton-Robb (Associated Press) / June 4, 2022
As the financially struggling Boy Scouts sell off a growing number of campgrounds — conservationists, government officials and others are scrambling to find ways to preserve them as open space
KILLINGWORTH, Conn. — As the financially struggling Boy Scouts sell off a number of campgrounds, conservationists, government officials and others are scrambling to find ways to preserve them as open space.
A $2.6 billion proposed bankruptcy settlement designed to pay thousands of victims of child sexual abuse has added pressure to an organization beset by years of declining enrollment, and the Scouts and their local councils have been cashing in on their extensive holdings, including properties where some of the abuse took place. Developers have bought up some. Preservation groups hope others can be protected and some legislators have taken notice.
“I am emphasizing to my colleagues that there is a clear urgency here,” said U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat who thinks there may be federal funds available to buy Scout properties. “We have no time to waste.”
For over a century the Scouts and their local councils have acquired properties across the country where generations have learned to appreciate the outdoors through camping, swimming and canoeing.
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