Re: [Philmont]: Challenges with our reputation and relationships with Parks & Such

Hi Kevin, and welcome to the Philmont list!

With well-thought-out posts like the one you posted today, I would hope you
become less of a lurker and more of a participant. You sir, I believe, hit
the nail right on the head.

Part of being a high adventure trekker is to understand the type of
"requirements" (if you will) for the participants. That means knowing and
learning how to do the actual activity, but it also means how to act in
those wilderness settings. LNT principles aside, it's not really acceptable
to others traveling in the backcountry to see and hear lots of loud,
screaming youth when a large part of the joy of trekking into the
backcountry is to get into the quiet.

Not all backcountry trekkers appreciate being camped next to a group of
young people, and I think it behooves all of us as adult advisors to present
a good image. It's hard to do at times, and I think most "neighbors" will
understand a certain amount of excitement by young people, but I think it's
as important to teach young people proper backcountry etiquette as it is to
prepare them physically for the trail.

Many well-intentioned adult advisors who aren't strong high adventurers
themselves often times miss this part.

Pete Swiggum
Troop 1173
Green Bay, WI
Philmont 2005
Peter.Swiggum@sbcglobal.net

----- Original Message -----
From: <kevinaldrich@insightbb.com>
To: "Multiple recipients of list philmont" <philmont@troop47.com>
Sent: Friday, November 18, 2005 9:22 AM
Subject: [Philmont]: Challenges with our reputation and relationships with
Parks & Such

> Hi, I'm new to this list and have been lurking. I appreciated the string
of
> discussion on the federal agencies that have had difficulties with Boy
Scout
> troops.
>
> My observations and understanding coincides with some comments, but I have
one
> thought that I didn't notice in the string.
>
> Many of our scoutmasters, and this includes assistant scoutmasters, except
for
> being outdoors with the boys are not backpackers or wilderness folks. Out
of
> the goodness of their scout spirit they take their boys out for
adventures, but
> hiking, backpacking, canoeing, climbing and wwRafting are not necessarily
> hobbies or avocations for these men and women. Many of our leaders are
novices
> at these activities themselves, but they have maturity, common sense and
life
> experiences to keep them safe and limit their risk during the activities.
>
> As a result sometimes these leaders aren't on the same page as those
people and
> groups who instead of "Scouts" being their thing or hobby, the wilderness
and
> the outdoor activity is their thing, their hobby.
>
> I'm aware, and have often been told or read, that many wilderness or
outdoor
> associations or clubs are not high on Boy Scouts when it comes to LNT or
> wilderness activities. We go in large groups, we have huge fires and worse
> we're noisy. They do however, respect the Boy Scouts for community
service,
> First Aid, and in general working with youth.
>
> That said, I've also heard from these same people that anyone that gets
bent
> because a group of boys is "noisy" needs to get over it. But the fires and
> large groups causes others to have concerns about us.
>
> In my troop LNT is a sore spot for me, because we will plan an outing and
> because we're "Boy Scouts," it's okay to ignore the rules establilshed by
a
> local national forest or wilderness area that has a group size
restriction. IMO
> this sends the wrong message to both our scouts and the people we meet on
the
> trail. A scout is trustworthy and obedient.
>
> I recently, along with my son a star scout, took 4 scouts and 1 dad
backpacking
> who had never backpacked before. We were a group of 7. Before we started
out
> the scouts and dad wondered if it was okay to go with such a small group.
By
> our first evening the dad came to realize that this was a great size group
of
> scouts to have out. They spent a lot of time with each other, some of
these
> scouts hadn't hung together before and they found out that they had a good
> time. The dad also got to spend time with some scouts that he had only
been
> around at the large group events. He really appreciated the quantity time
he
> got to spend with these scouts getting to know them better. There are
benefits
> to the smaller crew.
>
> Anyway, I believe that the hearts and intentions of scoutmasters is in the
> right place, but sometimes innocently and unintentionally we alienate
others
> because we don't know their etiquette expectations.
>
> Happy Turkey Day to Everyone, Hope to see you on the trail,
>
> Kevin
>
>
>
>
>
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> As you gather around this virtual campfire with fellow
> Scouts and Scouters, do your best to be trustworthy,
> loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient,
> cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean and reverent.
> -------------------------------------------------------
>
>
>
>
>
>

-------------------------------------------------------
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Subscribe/Unsubscribe at http://usscouts.org/lists/
Listserv Commands at http://usscouts.org/lists/lc.asp
-------------------------------------------------------
Send listserv commands to: listserv@troop47.com
Send postings to: philmont@troop47.com
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-------------------------------------------------------
As you gather around this virtual campfire with fellow
Scouts and Scouters, do your best to be trustworthy,
loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient,
cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean and reverent.
-------------------------------------------------------

 
Received on Fri Nov 18 11:33:00 2005