| Western Los Angeles County Council (#051) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 | |||
| Owner | Boy Scouts of America | ||
| Headquarters | Van Nuys, California | ||
| Country | United States | ||
| Founded | 1917 | ||
| Website bsa-la.org | |||
The Western Los Angeles County Council (WLACC) (#051) is one of five Boy Scouts of America councils in Los Angeles County, California. Headquartered in Van Nuys, the council services over 30,000 youth spanning six districts including the San Fernando Valley, Santa Clarita Valley, Antelope Valley, Malibu, and much of West Los Angeles.
The Western Los Angeles County Council was formed in 1972 with the merger of the Crescent Bay Council (#026) and the San Fernando Valley Council (#050) to form the Great Western Council. The Great Western Council was renamed Western Los Angeles County Council in 1985. [1]
On May 7, 2013, the Western Los Angeles County Council of the Boy Scouts issued a declaration calling for a "true and authentic inclusion policy" that would allow gay adults to work as troop leaders or staff members. [2] The Council's campaign "Inclusion Now for All Gay Boy Scouts and Leaders: Western LA County Council Sends Clear Message" in conjunction with Olmstead Williams Communications won a 2013 PRism Award from PRSA-Los Angeles. [3]
The Western Los Angeles County Council is divided into six districts.
Camp Josepho, Pacific Palisades (1941–2025) is a year-round camp owned and operated by the Western Los Angeles County Council of the Boy Scouts of America. The 110-acre (45 ha) camp is located in the Santa Monica Mountains in Los Angeles County and has been serving Scouting and community groups since 1941.
The land on which Camp Josepho now lies was originally donated to the Crescent Bay Council in 1941 by Anatol Josepho and his wife Ganna. The camp quickly rose to the forefront of Scouting camps, becoming known as the West Point of Scouting. [9] [10] The focal point of the camp is its large old western style lodge now named the Malibu Lodge after the Malibu Lodge #566 of the Order of the Arrow.
In January 2005, a flood washed out the main road into Camp Josepho. The camp remained closed for less than a month, reopening (to backpacking) in February 2005. The camp remained inaccessible to vehicular traffic while the road was studied by civil engineers. As of July 2007, the road was open once again.
On January 8, 2025, Camp Josepho was declared "closed indefinitely" by the Western Los Angeles County Council as a result of the 2025 Southern California Wildfires. The Palisades Wildfire specifically resulted in the camp burning down in a complete loss. [11] [12]
The Malibu Lodge #566, [13] chartered in 1972, serves 755 Arrowmen as of 2004. The lodge totem is a Pacific blue shark, and the name translates to "From the Mountains to the Sea" in the Chumash language. Malibu Lodge was created in 1972 from the merger of Tamet Lodge 225 and Walika Lodge 228.
Scouting in California has a long history, from the 1910s to the present day, serving thousands of youth in programs related to their environments.
The Santa Monica Mountains are a coastal mountain range in Southern California, next to the Pacific Ocean. It is part of the Transverse Ranges. The Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area encompasses this mountain range. Because of its proximity to densely populated regions, it is one of the most visited natural areas in California.
Silicon Valley Monterey Bay Council (#055) is a Boy Scouts of America council headquartered in San Jose, California. It was the result of a council merger between the Santa Clara County Council and the Monterey Bay Area Council. In 2004, the previous two councils served over 11,000 youth in over 400 Boy Scout troops, Cub Scout packs, Venturing crews, and Explorer posts. In 2012, the Monterey Bay Area Council announced that after 89 years as a separate council, it had agreed to merge back into the Santa Clara County Council. As of 2013, the council served 13,000 youth in four different counties.
The Santa Susana Mountains are a transverse range of mountains in Southern California, north of the city of Los Angeles, in the United States. The range runs east-west, separating the San Fernando and Simi valleys on its south from the Santa Clara River Valley to the north and the Santa Clarita Valley to the northeast. The Oxnard Plain is to the west of the Santa Susana Mountains.
The Santa Clarita Valley (SCV) is part of the upper watershed of the Santa Clara River in Southern California. The western portion of the valley was part of the 48,612-acre (19,673 ha) Rancho San Francisco Mexican land grant. Located in Los Angeles County. The valley's main population center is the city of Santa Clarita which includes the neighborhoods of Canyon Country, Newhall, Saugus, and Valencia. Adjacent unincorporated communities include Castaic, Stevenson Ranch, Val Verde, and Valencia.
Located in Los Angeles County, California's San Gabriel Valley, the Boy Scouts of America's San Gabriel Valley Council (#40) was one of five councils serving Los Angeles County. It was headquartered in Pasadena.
Santa Clarita is a city in northwestern Los Angeles County in the U.S. state of California. With a 2020 census population of 228,673, it is the third-most populous city in Los Angeles County, the 17th-most populous in California, and the 103rd-most populous city in the United States. It is located about 30 miles (48 km) northwest of downtown Los Angeles, and occupies 70.75 square miles (183.2 km2) of land in the Santa Clarita Valley, along the Santa Clara River. It is a classic example of a U.S. edge city, satellite city, or boomburb.
California's 27th senatorial district is one of 40 California State Senate districts. It is currently represented by Democrat Henry Stern of Malibu.
Founded in 1915, the Greater Los Angeles Area Council (GLAAC) (#033) served most of the City of Los Angeles as well as several other cities in the greater Los Angeles area. It was one of five Boy Scouts of America councils in Los Angeles County, California. Since its founding in 1915, the Los Angeles Area Council has brought its purpose and values to millions of youth. The Council served 54,567 youth in the Greater Los Angeles Area in 2008 alone.
The Los Angeles County Probation Department provides services for those placed on probation within Los Angeles County, California. Guillermo Viera Rosa is the current chief probation officer. The department is the largest probation department in the world.
One of the six Boy Scouts of America councils that serves the San Francisco Bay area, the Pacific Skyline Council was founded in 1940 as the Stanford Area Council (#031). In 1994, the Stanford Area Council merged with the San Mateo County Council (#020) to form the current council which serves youth in San Mateo County and northern Santa Clara county.
The 1978 Agoura-Malibu firestorm was a firestorm fueled by at least eight significant wildfires in the Los Angeles area on October 23, 1978. At around noon that day, an arsonist started a fire that eventually burned 25,000 acres (10,000 ha) from Cornell to Broad Beach in Malibu. The first fire alarm in Agoura was reported at 12:11 pm, and by 2:30 pm, the fire had reached the Pacific Ocean 13 miles (21 km) south in Malibu. It had been declared a Level 2 fire at 1:57 pm.
The Old Baldy Council (#043) was founded in 1917 as the Pomona Council. It changed its name in 1921 to Old Baldy. The Old Baldy name is from Mount San Antonio, often called "Old Baldy" or "Mount Baldy", the highest peak in the San Gabriel Mountains.
The October 2007 California wildfires, also known as the Fall 2007 California firestorm, were a series of about thirty wildfires that began igniting across Southern California on October 20. At least 1,500 homes were destroyed and approximately 972,147 acres of land was burned from Santa Barbara County to the U.S.–Mexico border, surpassing the October 2003 California wildfires in scope, which were estimated to have burned 800,000 acres (3,200 km2). The wildfires killed a total of 14 people, with nine of them dying directly from the fires; 160 others were injured, including at least 124 firefighters. At their height, the raging fires were visible from space. These fires included the vast majority of the largest and deadliest wildfires of the 2007 California wildfire season. The only wildfire in 2007 that surpassed any of the individual October 2007 fires in size was the Zaca Fire.
Greater Los Angeles Area Council (GLAAC) is a Boy Scouts of America Council created from the merger of the Los Angeles Area Council and the San Gabriel Valley Council. The vote to merge was held on March 21, 2015. The new name for the Council, Greater Los Angeles Area Council, was announced on June 11, 2015. The new Council will continue with Scouting Service centers in Los Angeles and Pasadena. GLAAC has three Scout shops located in Downtown Los Angeles, San Pedro, and Pasadena. Also in Pasadena is a local service center. GLAAC operates seven camps in the greater Los Angeles area. Due to the large size of the two original councils, the merger was a process that was completed over a time span, and completed in 2017.
The Woolsey Fire was a wildfire that started in Los Angeles County and spread north to neighboring Ventura County, both located in the U.S. state of California. The fire ignited on November 8, 2018 and was not fully contained until November 21, 2018. The fire burned 96,949 acres of land, destroyed 1,643 structures, killed three people, and prompted the evacuation of more than 295,000 people. It was one of several fires in California that ignited on the same day, along with the nearby Hill Fire and the destructive Camp Fire in Northern California.
The defunct Boy Scout councils are those which have been closed and merged with other councils.
The Palisades Fire is an ongoing wildfire burning in the Santa Monica Mountains of Los Angeles County in Southern California which has burned 23,448 acres, destroying large areas of Pacific Palisades, Topanga, and Malibu; it is part of a series of wildfires around Southern California being driven by an extreme Santa Ana wind event. According to CalFire, it grew to be the tenth-deadliest and third-most destructive California wildfire, with eleven deaths and 6,770 destroyed structures.
Since January 7, 2025, a series of destructive wildfires have affected the Los Angeles metropolitan area and surrounding regions. As of January 25, 2025, five fires remain active, the Palisades Fire, Eaton Fire, Hughes Fire, Border 2 Fire and Laguna Fire.
Because of the continued growth of the Scout movement in the Valley, we must put Camp Jubilee into shape to join Camp Whitsett as a site for summer camping.
The camp development committee ... set forth plans that will make Camp Jubilee an outstanding summer camp development in the Southern California area.
Mac Ohman at left, deputy Scout executive of San Fernando Valley Boy Scout Council, accepts a check from Panorama City Rotary Club for purchase of troop camp site at Jubilee Scout Ranch, Desert Springs.
Jubilee Scout Ranch will open this year for the first summer season, and is designed to accommodate approximately 100 boys a week for four weeks. This camp opens its season on June 28.
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