Section W-1B: News

Please take a moment to check out the NOAC 2009 promotional website and of course spread the word to the Arrowmen in your lodges.

http://event.oa-bsa.org

Boy Scouts of America Plans Largest National Service Project Since World War II
Tuesday April 29, 2008

DALLAS, April 29 /PRNewswire/ -- The Boy Scouts of America announced today that the Order of the Arrow, the BSA's national honor society, will conduct its largest national service project since World War II. The service project is called ArrowCorps5 (pronounced Arrow Corps Five) and will be conducted at five U.S. Forest Service sites across the country over a five-week period during the summer of 2008. This service project is expected to include 5,000 members of the OA providing more than 250,000 hours of service.

"ArrowCorps5 is the largest, most complex, most challenging conservation project ever conceived by the Order of the Arrow and Boy Scouts of America," said Brad Haddock, chairman, National Order of the Arrow Committee. "This project provides a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for each participant to set an example of leadership in service to those who treasure our national forests."

The national forest sites selected for this project are Mark Twain, Missouri; Manti-La Sal, Utah; George Washington and Jefferson, Virginia; Shasta-Trinity, California; and Bridger-Teton, Wyoming.

"Kids must understand why forests are so valuable so they will grow into citizens who support conservation. Building on the Forest Service tradition of conservation education, we will work with partners to ensure that American children have the opportunity to experience the great outdoors, whether it is a remote mountain wilderness or a spot of nature in the heart of a city," said Forest Service Chief Gail Kimbell. "Today's children -- and theirs -- will need to be able to take the baton and finish the race. For that, they will need a full understanding of why forests are so valuable, along with a strong land ethic. It is our job to give them both," Kimbell said.

Scouts from all across the United States will be given an opportunity to make significant and positive impacts on their national forests. These service projects will include ecosystem restoration, invasive plant and tree removal, trail construction and maintenance, bridge work, campsite improvements, erosion and weed control, and fence removal.

The project also serves as a precursor to the Boy Scouts' plans for its 100th anniversary celebration in 2010. "For nearly 100 years, the Boy Scouts of America has created a strong foundation of leadership, service, and community for millions of America's youth," Haddock said. "We celebrate this legacy as we reaffirm our commitment to inspire and prepare future generations of leaders through historic and meaningful projects and partnerships."

  ArrowCorps5 Service Project Schedule:
    Mark Twain National Forest         June 7-14, 2008                Missouri
    Manti-La Sal National Forest       June 14-21, 2008               Utah
    George Washington and
    Jefferson National Forests          June 21-28, 2008               Virginia
    Shasta-Trinity National Forest      July 12-19, 2008               California
    Bridger-Teton National Forest      July 26-August 2, 2008      Wyoming

About the Boy Scouts of America

Serving nearly 4.7 million young people between 7 and 20 years of age with more than 300 councils throughout the United States and its territories, the Boy Scouts of America is the nation's foremost youth program of character development and values-based leadership training. For more information on the Boy Scouts of America, please visit http://www.scouting.org.

About the Order of the Arrow

More than 180,000 youth and adults are members of the Order of the Arrow, the national honor society of the Boy Scouts of America. The purposes of the Order of the Arrow are to (1) recognize those Scout campers who best exemplify the Scout Oath and Law in their daily lives, (2) develop and maintain camping traditions and spirit, (3) promote Scout camping, and (4) crystallize the Scout habit of helpfulness into a life purpose of leadership in cheerful service to others.

About the U.S. Forest Service

Established in 1905, the Forest Service is an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The Forest Service manages public lands in national forests and grasslands. These public lands encompass an estimated 193 million acres of land, an area the size of Texas. The Forest Service has a long and distinguished history of service to the public and stewardship of our national forests and grasslands. The agency's mission is best captured by the phrase "Caring for the Land and Serving People."

I want to let you know that national is still accepting deposits for four of the five ArrowCorps5 sites. Bridger-Teton is now full, but if you send in the $100 deposit for any of the other sites you won't be turned away. Please continue promoting ArrowCorps5 until you hear otherwise -- especially follow up with anyone who has shown an interest but wasn't able to have the deposit ready before for the deadline. All of the sites are going to be fun, historic, and meaningful, and I don't want anyone to miss out. In the West we have Shasta-Trinity in northern California (12-19 July) and Manti-La-Sal in Utah (14-21 June). Please check http://event.oa-bsa.org/ for the latest information (recently updated with packing lists and travel information). If you have questions please contact your lodge or section chief, your AC5 coordinator, or me. Yours in Brotherhood.

I want to formally announce the confirmed dates for the National Order of the Arrow Conference in 2009 at Indiana University. This tremendous event will take place August 1st through August 6th of 2009. It is anticipated any members of your lodge that will be on staff will begin to arrive on the Wednesday prior to the 1st. Please double check your calendars as there was some incorrect information circulated earlier and we need to make everyone aware of the correct dates. Please continue to promote ArrowCorps5 in your Lodges and Sections. AC5 is shaping up to be a fantastic experience- one that your lodge members should not miss!

Your new Western Region Chief is Mark Hendricks. Many of you have met Mark since he is from Section W1-C and lives nearby in Richland, Washington.

As per your request, here is an overview for everyone of the upcoming Arrowcorp5 program since there hasn't been a clear comprehensive explanation of it within the Section.

What is Arrowcorp5? Five thousand arrowmen (physically fit youth and adults) will take on the largest national service project ever taken on by the BSA covering 5 different sites around the nation. The program will be based on the highly successful OA high adventure programs that were developed at the national high adventure bases. This will be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to take part in this type of experience.

Your lodge is able to send a contingent to any or all of these. For anyone in your lodge to go, they must sign up through a contingent in your council or you may send them with a contingent from one of the other councils in the section. If you have interest within your lodge of members, please email the coc list so everyone can get an idea of who is sending contingents to which sites.

Each site will hold 1000 arrowmen. They will be broken up into squads of 4 people and a squad leader. There will be roughly 800 participants and 200 staff including the squad leaders. To lock in the ArrowCorps⁵ spaces desired, each council must submit a non-refundable $100 per participant per site deposit by February 1, 2008. All sites will be filled on a first come, first serve basis.

Why is this important to support? This is a great opportunity for your council for several reasons.

1. The OA High adventure experience changes the lives of those that attend. Once a person goes, they are very motivated to change their local program.

2. Local trail crew programs will get a boost. All squad leaders will get certified in ConservationUSA which is a new program designed to teach conservation techniques to volunteers who put on service projects. It is the standard that federal and local land management authorities will use to have trained people running projects locally.

3. This is the first, and maybe only time that adults will have the opportunity to take part in the OA high adventure experience.

4. Since this is the largest service project ever taken on by the BSA, it is going to be used for marketing the BSA to outside groups to show that we make a huge impact within our communities. Robert Mazzuca, our new Chief Scout Executive has made this a priority. Please work to ensure your councils do the same.

How to register. Each council was sent information on how to get registered for Arrowcorp5 in September 2007. The registration packet from the national office will be put on the CoC portion of the website shortly if you have misplaced it. It isn't too late if you haven't completed it yet. Please read through the process and fill out the appropriate forms. You need to have a youth and adult chairman. Case Barden will be calling each lodge chief to get the name of those people. If you have them in place, please give him a call. Remember that each person has to pay the deposit for each site they would like to attend, so if they want to go to two sites, the council should remit two deposits for them.

How do we promote Arrowcorp5? There are many resources available at http://event.oa-bsa.org/events/arrowcorps5/index.php?p=resources for your use. Please make sure you go through what is available and get familiar with everything. Make a point to promote it however you can at every event. i.e. Council events, roundtables, lodge and chapter meetings, etc.

Which lodges are sending contingents to which sites? Please make it a point to send out a quick email to everyone and let us know which sites you are thinking of commiting to. That way, if one of us has a person that would like to go one site that others in the council don't care to, they can coordinate that with a lodge that is going there.

How full are the sites? Go to http://event.oa-bsa.org/events/arrowcorps5/index.php?p=info for as up to date of information as I can get on how full they are. The numbers to pay attention to are the deposits received. Once that reaches 800 it is full.

The bottom line is that this is too good of an opportunity to pass up, so please make sure your lodge and council are getting people ready to go.

Your Section Chief, Dustin Graves and local National Committee Representatives, Del Loder and Toby Capps, just returned from Dallas, where along with about 200 other OA leaders, spent four days of final planning for the five Arrowcorps projects around the country.

If you have missed the messages, ArrowCorps5 is the largest service project ever taken on in the history of the Boy Scouts. The new Chief Scout Executive is thrilled about this event, and you will see the full resources of the Boy
Scouts behind it.

Two of the five sites have already overfilled their reservations. Shasta Trinity, which a lot of Pacific Northwest Arrowmen are a part of, will be the next to be filled. I know that all the promo material said you have until February 1st to pay your reservations, however... That Is Wrong!!! Reservations are on a first come first served basis! This is going to be so much fun, such a great team building, true mountain top experience, that I don't want any of you, or the Arrowmen you represent, to miss this once in a lifetime opportunity.

Toby Capps
National Order of the Arrow Committee
Vice Chairman, Western Region

It is starting to be the right time to start promoting the ArrowCorp5 program within your lodges. As with all of the OA high adventure programs, this is an opportunity for you to strengthen your lodges. Arrowmen who will attend any or all of the ArrowCorp5 sessions will come back pumped up about the OA and spread that excitement to your lodge. This is an invaluable resource that should not be overlooked.

Check out the website:

http://event.oa-bsa.org/events/arrowcorps5/

The format of the sessions will be one week of service with one day of outdoor recreation incorporated. Each area will have different opportunities.

The two closest locations will be Shasta-Trinity and Bridger-Teton national forests in California and Wyoming, respectively. From my understanding, lodges will be able to register as contingents, but the whole registration process is still being worked out, so stay tuned for more information on that.

This is the National Order of the Arrow event for 2008, so please start promoting it now to encourage high turnout and ensure a greater return of excited arrowmen to your lodges.

Nick Spencer-Berger
Associate Section Adviser