On November 18, 2009, the BSA announced the acquisition of the property comprising the main 10,600-acre site of what is now The Summit Bechtel Reserve. Its acquisition was made possible through a donation from the Stephen D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation.[2] The $50 million donation is the largest in the history of the BSA.[1][3]
On October 22, 2010, the BSA announced that total donations had reached $100 million, including a $25 million donation from the Suzanne and Walter Scott Foundation.[4] Both Stephen Bechtel and Walter Scott, Jr. are recipients of the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award.[5] October 22 is also the day the BSA announced the dates of the 2013 National Scout Jamboree and the day ground was broken at SBR with 22 golden shovels.[4][6] The Scott funds funded the building of the Scott Scouting Valley and the Scott Visitor Center. Another gift from T. Michael and Gillian Goodrich led to the creation of centerpiece lake on the main site property now known as Goodrich Lake. Mike Goodrich is also a Distinguished Eagle Scout Award recipient.[1][4][5]
The current goals of construction at the site are developing infrastructure and providing access to the area's resources for outdoor activities. The Summit is expected to inject $25.3 million into the local economy annually.[10]
Inception
Plans for The Summit began in 2007 when BSA leadership began looking for a permanent location for the National Scout Jamboree, which had been held at Fort A.P. Hill, Virginia since 1981 as well as seeking another high adventure base for the large number of Scouts who are wait-listed at the other three high adventure camps every year.[2] A committee in charge of site selection and project planning was created. The committee named the new venture Project Arrow, chaired by Jack D. Furst. Plans for Project Arrow grew to include not only a venue for the Jamboree, but also for a Scout camp, a high adventure base, and a training and leadership center, all housed on the same contiguous property.[11]
More than 80 sites in 28 states were visited over an 18-month span and inspected as possible locations for the new venue.[1][11] The top fifteen sites were visited in October 2008 and the list was cut to three final sites: Saline County, Arkansas; Goshen, Rockbridge County, Virginia; and the New River region of West Virginia. In February 2009 Arkansas was cut from the list, leaving Virginia and West Virginia.[2][11][12] On August 4, 2009, the BSA announced it was no longer considering the Virginia site and was looking into the feasibility of the West Virginia site becoming the sole site for all purposes.[12]
On November 18, 2009, the BSA announced that it had chosen the West Virginia site, known locally as the Garden Ground Mountain property, as the future home of the Summit Bechtel Reserve.[13]
One of the deciding factors for Project Arrow in choosing the West Virginia site was its adjacency to New River Gorge National River. More than 13 miles of the property borders the park, giving Scouts and Scouters access to the more than 70,000 acres of managed wilderness beyond the Reserve's property.[1]
On April 1, 2012, Justin D. (Dan) McCarthy was appointed Summit Group Director. He is responsible for all aspects of the operation of the Reserve. McCarthy is a retired Vice-Admiral of the U.S. Navy and served as Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Fleet Readiness and Logistics. A lifelong scouter, McCarthy received the Silver Buffalo Award, the BSA's highest volunteer recognition, in May 2012.
Location
Overlook of the Summit site, cleared out before general construction in 2011.
The Summit Bechtel Family National Scout Reserve is in southern West Virginia bordering the New River Gorge National River. Approximately 11,400 acres (46km2) of the property are in Fayette County. The remaining roughly 2,600 acres (11km2) are in Raleigh County. The property borders the communities of Glen Jean, McCreery, Thurmond, and Mount Hope.[1][7][8] To the south is the city of Beckley and to the north is the city of Oak Hill and the town of Fayetteville. To the northwest is Charleston, the state capital.[14]
The Summit Bechtel Family National Scout Reserve has three main components of activity: the Paul R. Christen National High Adventure Base, the James C. Justice National Scout Camp, and the John D. Tickle Training and Leadership Center, each of which has unique program opportunities.[2][11] There are six subcamps named based on the NATO Phonetic Alphabet, which have the capacity to house up to 40,000 campers, a large outdoor arena with a capacity of approximately 80,000, and ten district adventure areas covering mountain biking, BMX, skate boarding, archery, rifle & shotgun shooting, zip lines, canopy tours, challenge courses, climbing & rappelling.[8] Operating principles of The Summit Bechtel Reserve are centered on four core values: Leadership, Adventure, Service, and Sustainability.
The SBR property was once the site of extensive coal mining, an industry for which the state of West Virginia is known. The remnants of long abandoned surface mines within the property have created wide flat areas that tier the terrain into a series of benches, effectively pre-grading and excavating the property, and allowing for many of the roads and infrastructure on the property to begin construction with manageable earth moving.
Sections of the property contain large flat areas engineered to accommodate regional camp headquarters and sub-camps. The sub-camp farthest from The Summit's core area is 1.3 miles (2.1km), with an elevation gain of no more than 300 feet (91m). Pedestrian pathways reduce walking times from base camps to the core activity center to 12–15 minutes.
A permanent arena on the far side of the valley seats 6000 to 8000 people, built as a natural extension to the property's lower bowl amphitheatre section, for a total arena area large enough for 80,000 people during national Scout jamborees.
Consol Energy Wing Tip Footbridge at The Summit, viewed from one of three observation points; two on opposite sides and one underneath the bridge.
A lake at the center of the main site separates base camps from the arena, action areas, transportation centers, and other traditional core areas. A valley on the Summit property is crossed by a triple-walkway pedestrian suspension bridge sponsored by CONSOL Energy. The bridge is just shy of 800 feet (240m) in length, and was made possible by the $15 million donation of CONSOL. The bridge connects the western and eastern portions of the core areas of the property.[16]
High Adventure Areas constructed on the property include: The Park (skateboarding), The Trax (BMX), The Pools (scuba and swimming), The Cloud (popular science & robotics), The Bows (archery sports), The Barrels (shooting sports), The Ropes (challenge courses in the trees), the Rocks and Boulder Cove (climbing, bouldering, and rappelling), The Zip (zipline), Low & High Gear (mountain bike headquarters locations connecting over 36 miles of downhill and cross country mountain bike trails), The Canopy (canopy tours), and 'sampler' activities available within The Scott Summit Center.
ArcGIS Online supports the SBR's geospatial initiatives, including deployment of mobile and web applications. A Geographic Information System is a system designed to capture, store, manipulate, analyze, manage, and present all types of geographical data. Example applications that utilize the ArcGIS Platform supported at SBR include a 'story map',[17] the SBR web map[18] utilized for navigation during the 2013 National Jamboree, and a 'swipe map'[19] comparing 2011 to 2013 development.
Program areas supported by the foundations include science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) Education, environment, character and citizenship development, and preventive healthcare and selected research.
The Bechtel Foundation donated $50 million to the BSA to help the Arrow Project purchase and develop the land that is now The Summit Bechtel Family National Scout Reserve.[22]
Since its inception, the largest construction focus of the Arrow Project was preparing The Summit Bechtel Family National Scout Reserve property for the 2013 National Scout Jamboree, which was held July 15–24, 2013.[4]
The Jamboree saw over 56,000 participants and guests over the course of 10 days for the event.[4] SBR became the third-largest city in West Virginia during the event. 2013 was the inaugural Jamboree held at SBR. All future BSA Jamborees will be held there.[6]
With the addition of The Summit Bechtel Reserve's Paul R. Christen National High Adventure Base as the newest high adventure base, participants will be exposed to programs unique to the New River Gorge region. The region offers white water rafting rated from Class II to Class V along the more than 50 miles of river within the New River Gorge National River area. Other outdoor activities that are popular to the area include Rock climbing, rappelling (abseiling), mountain biking, hiking, geocaching, and orienteering. Some of the additional activities added with help from Scout feedback at the 2010 Jamboree, are skateboarding, freestyle BMX, mountainboarding, ATV riding, paddle boarding, dragon boat racing, and ziplines.[29]
The Boy Scouts of America is one of the largest scouting organizations and one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with about 762,000 youth participants. The BSA was founded in 1910; about 110 million Americans have participated in its programs. BSA became a founding member organization of the World Organization of the Scout Movement in 1922.
Scouting in West Virginia has a long history, from the 1910s to the present day, serving thousands of youth in programs that suit the environment in which they live.
Scouting in Pennsylvania has a long and rich tradition, from 1908 to the present day, serving thousands of youth in programs that suit the environment in which they live.
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.
Stephen Davison Bechtel Jr. was an American billionaire, businessman, civil engineer, and co-owner of the Bechtel Corporation. He was the son of Stephen Davison Bechtel Sr. and grandson of Warren A. Bechtel, who founded the Bechtel Corporation. He was known for expanding the global footprint of the corporation through several of its international projects. Some of the projects executed under his leadership of the company included King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh as well as Jubail Industrial City in Saudi Arabia as well as oil platforms in the North Sea, liquefied natural gas plants in Algeria, Indonesia and the United Arab Emirates.
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.
Sea Base, formerly known as Florida National High Adventure Sea Base, is a high adventure program base run by the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) in the Florida Keys. Its counterparts are the Philmont Scout Ranch in northern New Mexico, the Northern Tier National High Adventure Bases in Ely, Minnesota as well as Manitoba and Ontario in Canada, and The Summit Bechtel Family National Scout Reserve near the New River Gorge National Park in southern West Virginia.
Winkler v. Rumsfeld was a case regarding the United States Armed Forces and their support of the Boy Scouts of America's national Scout jamborees.
Minsi Trails Council is a council of the Boy Scouts of America that serves Scouts in the Lehigh Valley and the Pocono Mountains regions of eastern Pennsylvania and western New Jersey. In Pennsylvania, the council serves five counties: Lehigh, Northampton, Monroe, Carbon, and Luzerne. In New Jersey, it serves Warren County.
Glen Jean is a census-designated place (CDP) in Fayette County, West Virginia, United States, near Oak Hill. As of the 2010 census, its population is 210.
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The Buckskin Council is the local council of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) that serves Scouts in Kentucky, Ohio, Virginia and West Virginia.
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 2013 National Scout Jamboree was the 18th national Scout jamboree held by the Boy Scouts of America from July 15, 2013, to July 24, 2013. It was the first national Scout jamboree held at the Summit Bechtel Reserve in West Virginia and the first jamboree to include Venturers as participants. Attendance was 40,795 Boy Scouts, Venturers, volunteers and staff.
Flint River Council is a Boy Scouts of America council based in Griffin, Georgia. The council is divided into four districts Coweta, Fayette, Ronotohatchi, and Tussahaw.
The Rocks and Boulder Cove, the climbing area at the Summit Bechtel Family National Scout Reserve located in Fayette and Raleigh Counties, near Beckley, is the largest man-made climbing facility in the world.
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".
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