The Boy Scouts of America is one of the largest scouting organizations and one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with over 1 million youth, including 176,000 female participants. The BSA was founded in 1910; about 130 million Americans have participated in its programs. Served by 477,000 adult volunteers. BSA became a founding member organization of the World Organization of the Scout Movement in 1922.
Scouting in New Mexico has had a rich and colorful history, from the 1910s to the present day, serving thousands of youth in programs that suit the environment in which they live. The state is home to the Philmont Scout Ranch.
Eagle Scout is the highest rank attainable in the Scouts BSA program by the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). Since its inception in 1911, only four percent of Scouts have earned this rank after a lengthy review process. The Eagle Scout rank has been earned by over 2.5 million youth.
Philmont Scout Ranch is a ranch located in Colfax County, New Mexico, United States, near the village of Cimarron; it covers 140,177 acres (56,728 ha) of wilderness in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains on the east side of the Cimarron Range of the Rocky Mountains. Donated by oil baron Waite Phillips, the ranch is owned and operated by the Boy Scouts of America. It is a National High Adventure Base where crews of Scouts and Venturers take part in backpacking treks and other outdoor activities. By land area, it is one of the largest youth camps in the world. During the 2019 season, between June 8 and August 22, an estimated 24,000 Scouts and adult leaders backpacked through the Ranch's extensive backcountry. That same year 1,302 staff were responsible for the Ranch's summer operations.
Advancement and recognition in the Boy Scouts of America is a tradition dating from the inception of the Scouting movement. A fundamental purpose of advancement is the self-confidence a young man or woman acquires from his participation in Scouting. Advancement is one of the methods used in the "Aims and Methods of Scouting"– character development, citizenship training and personal fitness.
The Boy Scouts of the Philippines (BSP) is the national scouting organization of the Philippines in the World Organization of the Scout Movement. The Scout movement was first introduced in the Philippines in 1910 during the American Occupation. It was granted "Recognition as a Member Organization of the Boy Scouts International Conference with effect from October 31, 1936" by virtue of certification signed by J. S. Wilson, Olave Baden-Powell, and Daniel Spry.
The National Scout jamboree is a gathering, or jamboree, of thousands of members of the Boy Scouts of America, usually held every four years and organized by the National Council of the Boy Scouts of America. Referred to as "the Jamboree", "Jambo", or NSJ, Scouts from all over the nation and world have the opportunity to attend. They are considered to be one of several unique experiences that the Boy Scouts of America offers. The first jamboree was scheduled to be held in 1935 in Washington, D.C. to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Scouting, but was delayed two years after being cancelled due to a polio outbreak. The 1937 jamboree in Washington attracted 25,000 Scouts, who camped around the Washington Monument and Tidal Basin. The event was covered extensively by national media and attended by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Edward Urner Goodman was an influential leader in the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) movement for much of the twentieth century. Goodman was the national program director from 1931 until 1951, during the organization's formative years of significant growth when the Cub Scouting and Exploring programs were established. He developed the BSA's national training center in the early 1930s and was responsible for publication of the widely read Boy Scout Handbook and other Scouting books, writing the Leaders Handbook used by Scout leaders in the United States during the 1930s and 1940s. In the 1950s, Goodman was Executive Director of Men's Work for the National Council of Churches in New York City and active in church work.
William Temple Hornaday, Sc.D. was an American zoologist, conservationist, taxidermist, and author. He served as the first director of the New York Zoological Park, known today as the Bronx Zoo, and he was a pioneer in the early wildlife conservation movement in the United States.
William Hillcourt, known within the Scouting movement as "Green Bar Bill", was an influential leader in the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) organization from 1927 to 1992. Hillcourt was a prolific writer and teacher in the areas of woodcraft, troop and patrol structure, and training; his written works include three editions of the BSA's official Boy Scout Handbook, with over 12.6 million copies printed, other Scouting-related books and numerous magazine articles. Hillcourt developed and promoted the American adaptation of the Wood Badge adult Scout leader training program.
Scouts BSA is the flagship program and membership level of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) for boys and girls between the ages of typically 11 and 17. It provides youth training in character, citizenship, and mental personal fitness and leadership and develop the skills necessary to become successful adults.
Max I. Silber was an American businessman from New Hampshire who through his philanthropic works became not only a formative figure for Boy Scouting in New Hampshire, but a distinguished citizen of his home state. A devout Jew, Silber was an active supporter of religious Scouting programs, and was distinguished not just by the Jewish Committee of Scouting, but by the Roman Catholic Committee on Scouting as well. Perhaps the most famous endeavor of Silber's was the development of his "friendship gifts" which were most commonly belt buckles made of bronze. These buckles have evolved into popular Scouting collectibles.
The BSA Distinguished Conservation Service Award Program is a series of awards presented by the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) for service in conservation and ecology. Created by William Temple Hornaday as the Permanent Wild Life Protection Fund Medal in 1915, the program is designed to encourage learning about natural resource conservation and the environment, teach sound stewardship of the natural resources and the environment, and recognize those who are outstanding in this field. After Hornaday's death in 1937, the program was renamed in his honor to the William T. Hornaday Awards in 1938 and officially became a BSA award program. In October 2020, after a review of Hornaday's life, the BSA changed the name of and significantly modified the program, stating that some of Hornaday's beliefs went "against the BSA’s values," and determined that "the conservation award should no longer bear his name in order to uphold our commitment against racism and discrimination."
Robert C. Birkby is an American adventure guide, author, photographer, speaker and trail designer.
High Adventure Bases of the Boy Scouts of America are outdoor recreation facilities located in several locales in North America operated by the Boy Scouts of America at the organization's national level. Each facility offers wilderness programs and training that could include wilderness canoeing, wilderness backpacking trips, or sailing, and provide opportunities for Scouts to earn the 50-Miler Award. These bases are administered by the High Adventure Division of the National Council of the Boy Scouts of America.
The Summit Bechtel Family National Scout Reserve, often shortened as Summit Bechtel Reserve (SBR), located in Fayette and Raleigh counties, near Beckley, West Virginia, is one of four facilities managed by the National Council of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). The others are Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico, Northern Tier National High Adventure Bases in Minnesota, as well as Manitoba and Ontario in Canada, and Florida National High Adventure Sea Base in the Keys. The Summit Bechtel Reserve is the current home of the National Scout Jamboree, the Paul R. Christen National High Adventure Base, the James C. Justice National Scout Camp, and the John D. Tickle National Training and Leadership Center. The reserve comprises properties totaling over 14,000 acres (57 km2). The facility's opening event was the 2013 National Scout Jamboree.
Daniel Gil Ownby is an American energy professional. In 2020, Ownby was elected to a two-year term as National Chair for the Boy Scouts of America, the highest volunteer position in the Scout Organization. Previously, he served as International Commissioner for the Boy Scouts of America. He also was a member of the Executive Committee of the Boy Scouts of America and headed the United States Fund for International Scouting (USFIS). He is known as an advocate for youth leadership and a life-long volunteer with the Boy Scouts of America.
The 2017 National Scout Jamboree was the 19th national Scout jamboree held by the Boy Scouts of America, from July 19, 2017 to July 28, 2017. It was the second National Scout Jamboree held at the Summit Bechtel Reserve in West Virginia. The theme of the jamboree was "Live Scouting's Adventure".
In the Boy Scouts of America, a Scout leader refers to the trained leaders of a Scout unit. Adult leaders are generally referred to as "Scouters," and the youth leaders are referred to by their position within a unit. In all Scouting units above the Cub Scout pack and units serving adolescent Scouts, leadership of the unit comprises both adult leaders (Scouters) and youth leaders (Scouts). This is a key part of the Aims and Methods of Scouting. In order to learn leadership, the youth must actually serve in leadership roles.
