Boy Scout director responds to letter

Dear Editor:

I am writing in response to a letter to the editor about the Boy Scouts. As the director of the Boy Scouts for the Upstate, I take exception to what was referred to as the "raping and pillaging" of the land, as well as other unfounded accusations. So please allow me to set the story straight.

The property, approximately 450 acres total, was donated to the Boy Scouts a few years ago by Mr. and Mrs. Conley Clarke, to use for camping and activities, and eventually develop a Boy Scout camp. For more than four years, board members and committees have met to plan how best to make this dream a reality. From the start, our desire has been to provide more Scouting opportunities without damaging the land. As usage of the property by Scouts has grown, the need to develop parts of the property has come to the forefront. "Developing" can include clearing camp sites and fields, and eventually building tasteful, camp-style buildings.

We have taken years - not weeks or months - to select the best forestry consultant and crew to cut timber and to do it in a manner that will not "look bad" to neighbors or passing motorists. We have a master plan for creating activity fields and camp sites where trees have been removed, and to thin some of the pines where they are too dense. (As a simplified forestry explanation, trees that are compacted too close together compete for sunlight and water, and a crowded stand of trees can become sickly and susceptible to Southern Pine Beetles - especially during a drought). The stand of trees that was "clear cut" was past its peak and declining, with no new trees coming up. A good portion of this area (around the cleared activity fields) will be replanted.

I could go on about the rationale for removing trees and have already spoken with Mrs. Clarke and some of the neighbors, reassuring them of our intentions.

In summary, please keep an open mind and understand that there are two sides to every story. Scouting has an honor code and we live by it. We always will be trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean, and reverent.
Thanks for listening.
Rob Green,
Scout Executive