POCONO SUMMIT – Lehigh Valley Live is reporting… The Minsi Trails Council is selling off one of its camps to help cover its $2.6 million share of a national bankruptcy settlement to pay thousands of victims of sexual abuse. The Lehigh Valley area council is selling its Trexler Scout Reservation property in Monroe County to help fund its contribution to the fund, the council said in a Thursday letter posted to Facebook. “Consolidating Minsi Trails Council’s camp properties has been the most difficult decision our council leadership has ever taken,” the letter from Richard Christ, scout executive and CEO, states. “The decision has been thoughtfully and thoroughly considered and discussed.”
Starting in 2024, all Minsi Trails camping will occur at Camp Minsi on the 400-acre Stillwater Lake in Coolbaugh and Tobyhanna townships. Both camps will continue to operate through 2022 and 2023. “Over the past 15 years camping has declined at both camp facilities, making camp operations very expensive,” the letter states. “Given current utilization rates of both camps, Camp Minsi will be able to accommodate Minsi Trails Council campers, and this will significantly reduce overall operating expenses.” Locally, Boy Scout membership has declined from over 10,000 youth 10 years ago to about 4,500 at the end of 2021, the council reports.
The notice also states that the council plans to sell its service center in 2024 or later and its Scout Store. Many Boy Scout councils — including groups in New Jersey, New York, Wisconsin, Arizona, Maine and other states — have sold campgrounds or announced they are looking for buyers. That has raised concerns from environmentalists and community leaders that property that has been open space and used by children for generations will be sold for development.
