Profit trumps preservation for Boy Scout councils nationwide

Seattle Post Intelligencer by Lewis Kamb | Jan. 30, 2009 (Investigative Report)

They logged, sold thousands of acres of prime lands

for decades, local Boy Scouts of America administrations across the country have clearcut or otherwise conducted high-impact logging on tens of thousands of acres of forestland, often for the love of a different kind of green: cash.

A Hearst Newspapers investigation has found dozens of cases over the past 20 years of local Boy Scout councils logging or selling prime woodlands to big timber interests, developers or others, turning quick money and ... Full Story »

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by Michele Kelly - Feb. 3, 2009

This is quality journalism because it questions a generally-held notion - that the Boy Scouts organization is conservationist and acts as a responsible steward of the land. I have some reservations because the main source for the story is the newspaper-financed survey. I think more independent corroboration would have enhanced the journalism and the credibility of the story. The story raises in my mind questions about the local governmental bodies involvement in approving various development projects - e.g., building permit for a new roof that overlooked stripping the nearby forest.

Another question that comes to my mind is that although the survey is called "national," quotes and reports from actual people sources are overwhelmingly from the U.S. Northwest. There is scant mention of other areas of the country. I have personal knowledge of a Boy Scouts Council on the Eastern Shore of Maryland that fought hard to stop a proposed strip mining development that bordered their land and allegedly encroached upon protected habitats.