The Boy Scouts’ extensive land holdings have become central to its plan to pay survivors of sexual abuse. molly__o reports on how developers and conservationists are battling over the Boy Scouts’ fantastically valuable property
Photo: Frederic Lewis/Getty Images The Deer Lake Scout Reservation in Killingworth, Connecticut, was originally acquired by a local chapter of the Boy Scouts of America as a tract of farmland in the 1960s. Little has changed in the decades since: The 253-acre camp is an expanse of spectacular rock formations and immaculate waterfront where scouts ice climb, weekend hobbyists hike the trails, and birders watch for ospreys.
These confrontations between conservationists and Boy Scouts chapters often involve opposing interpretations of decades-old deeds produced when early conservationists donated property to the Boy Scouts under specific terms — for instance, that the land remain a place for youth to appreciate the outdoors.
The Boy Scouts owns a lot of land. By some counts, the 200-odd local Boy Scouts chapters own 2,000 camps, which doesn’t include properties like the Philmont Scout Ranch — a massive tract of mountainous wilderness in the Rockies managed by the national organization. In New York State alone, chapters control 35,000 acres , making the organization’s cumulative footprint in the state larger than that of Disney World in Florida.
“Some of these properties are hot, super hot for developers,” says Timothy Kosnoff, an attorney representing more than 12,000 abuse victims involved in the Boy Scouts bankruptcy trial. “In some instances, you’ve got thousands of linear feet on the water in Long Island Sound.” According to Kosnoff, evidence submitted during the trial suggests the chapter-owned properties alone may be worth between $8 and $10 billion.
Not all Boy Scouts camps are converted into off-road courses or private compounds for the filthy rich: Recently, in Maine, the local government matched donations through a conservation program to purchase a property a Boy Scouts chapter needed to unload to relieve its impending debt. Residents can still, for the time being, hike and camp on the 96 acres near Lewiston; then again, that property was appraised at just over $400,000.
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