Although the Boy Scouts of America – Voyageurs Area Council (VAC) has been evaluating it strategic goals, which includes inventorying its facilities, camps and properties for about a year, it came as a surprise to the leaders and parents of Cook County’s Pack 167 to hear that the Boy Scout property on Devil Track Lake might be sold.
Reached in his Duluth office, David Nolle, VAC Scout executive/CEO, said the council was several years into a review of all its property. He said Boy Scouts has been asking which properties are used and which can be used. He was surprised to hear the outcry from Cook County, because he didn’t think the land was being used. “Frankly, we didn’t anticipate that there was interest there.”
An invitation went out on September 1 to all parents and leaders of VAC to attend a Town Hall Meeting in Hermantown at 6 p.m. on Monday, September 14 to accept comment on the disposition of six Boy Scout properties owned or managed by VAC. Troubling to some members of the Cook County Scouting community was this statement: Following the town hall meeting it is anticipated that the executive committee will present a resolution to the board that asks the board to authorize President Minardi and Scout Executive Nolle to negotiate and execute the sale of the Devil Track property…
The land in question, which is .53 acre in size, has been a part of Cook County Boy Scouting since 1947. The Cook County Star reported on the October 22, 2000 opening of a time capsule buried by local Boy Scouts at the property on Devil Track Lake 50 years earlier.
The land off of South Shore Drive was called Camp Shako and in those days was used for cookouts and swimming lessons in the lake. However, over the years the property was used less and less.
In fact, some of the current Scout leadership, such as Den Leader and local chair Sara Hadley said she didn’t even know the Boy Scouts owned land in Cook County until a year ago. Since finding out, Hadley said, “Some of the dads, grandpas, and leaders have been to the land, volunteering, and clearing brush, and working there so that we may use the land for scouting activities.”
She said it was disappointing to possibly lose access to the land when they had just started planning to use it. “It’s heartbreaking to us,” she said.
Scoutmaster Daniel Ditmanson said he was frustrated that no one in the current Scout leadership was contacted before the Voyageurs Area Council reached the point of a public hearing to discuss the possible sale.
Ditmanson, who earned his Eagle Scout designation in 2011 in the Cook County program, notes that the council is correct— there are no active Boy Scout troops in Cook County. However, he said the Cub Scouts, the program for younger boys leading to Boy Scouts, is on “an upswing.” He said exact numbers wouldn’t be known until the new Scouting year begins, but there are between 15 – 30 Cub Scouts. He said it wouldn’t be too much longer before some of those youths will be Boy Scouts.
Ditmanson remembers spending time at the Devil Track land when he was a young Scout and he would like to see it stay in Cook County’s hands for other Scouts. And, he said, ideally the land could be used by visiting Scouts as well. He noted that many troops travel from Ely to Grand Portage. A primitive campsite on Devil Track could be made available for their use as well.
Ditmanson said he didn’t mean to be disrespectful to those working on this evaluation, but he reiterated that the current Scouting leadership was left out of the process. “We feel completely disregarded. To receive a message telling us that an adjoining property owner has expressed interest and that the council expects a formal offer in the near future, to us, is a kick in the gut.”
“We don’t agree that the land has no value for Boy Scouts. They may make money by selling it, but we are the ones who would lose,” said Ditmanson.
Ditmanson said he understands a lot of work needs to be done to once again make the land safe and useable, but he believes the community would be willing to help make it happen.
There is agreement about the condition of the land if it is kept in the Boy Scouts’ hands. Ditmanson agrees that the old cabin on the site has fallen into disrepair and needs to be torn down and removed. The lot is landlocked, crossing U.S. Forest Service or private land, so a legal easement needs to be created. And there is an apparent discrepancy in the property line locations. “In its current rendition, it doesn’t meet BSA standards,” said Nolle.
Ditmanson also noted that the land was gifted to Cook County Boy Scouts by the Johnson family to be used for Boy Scout activities. Nolle said that is correct, but said there is no legal entity known as Cook County Boy Scouts so the deed for the land lists Voyageurs Area Council as the owner.
However, he said it is not clear as to the donor’s intent when the land was gifted 60-plus years ago, whether the land is restricted to use by Cook County Boy Scouts or if it was meant to benefit the Voyageurs Council. He said Bruce Kerfoot of Grand Marais, a former Scout leader and member of the Scouting property board was researching the restrictions.
It may be possible that the land will revert back to the Johnson family if it is not used as a Scouting property. Reached by phone, former Scoutmaster Dan Baumann said that was his understanding of the agreement.
Baumann empathized with the council’s dilemma. He pointed to the list of closures of other facilities and said it comes down to lack of use and the BSA financial situation. He said if the property can be sold to help BSA maintain its other, better-attended camps, he thought that would be best.
“I just don’t see that this land is going to benefit Boy Scouts. I’m confident we could get donations to get access, to put in a road, to get a latrine so people could park and camp there. But you need someone to constantly maintain it—who is going to do that? Without that, it would just go back to nature again,” said Baumann.
He added, “The things I did with Scouts required more than an acre with houses on either side. That’s not what Boy Scouts camping is all about. We are fortunate to live in an area that has all this forest around us, we should make use of that.”
“The rational side of me says we should get rid of it,” said Baumann.
Despite the letter that sounded as if the sale was imminent, Nolle said, “Nothing’s a done deal here.”
He said that is why a Town Hall Meeting was being held and he said the reason it was to be held in Hermantown was because there are other properties in that vicinity that will also be discussed. However, he said a Town Hall Meeting has been scheduled in Cook County for Wednesday, September 9 from 6 – 7:30 p.m. at the Cook County Higher Education building.
“Anyone who is interested in the legacy of this land is invited to attend the Town Hall meeting,” said Nolle.
Former Scouts, parents and community members are invited to share their thoughts.
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