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Scout camp receives face-lift
By Carole Cloudwalker
This document was published online on Monday, February 08, 2010
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| A lodge at Camp Buffalo Bill Boy on the North Fork this weekend was guarded by a carved bear and surrounded by snowdrifts. (Photo by Ivy Garlow) |
Camp Buffalo Bill, the Boy Scout camp on the North Fork near Yellowstone Park, will undergo a $150,000 renovation this winter and spring.
The work is part of a five-year improvement project for the well-known facility.
Mark Francis of Casper, executive director for the Boy Scouts’ Central Wyoming Council, said the goal is to make the 50-year-old camp safer and more comfortable for both Scouts and groups from the public.
The camp is half as old as Boy Scouting itself, and is in need of a face-lift, Francis said. Boy Scouts of America will celebrate its Centennial on Feb. 8.
The North Fork facility can be rented year-round for receptions, meetings, retreats and other purposes.
The organization was founded after Chicago businessma n William Boyce visited England, the birthplace of Boy Scouting, and met both a Scout and Lord and Lady Baden Powell, who inspired him to bring the Scouting concept to the U.S.
Francis, who named his young son “Baden” after the founders of Scouting, said Boyce became lost and disoriented in a 1907 London fog, and asked a British boy he came upon to give him directions.
The boy, who was a member of the newly formed Boy Scouts, refused money for his help, which impressed Boyce so much he decided to start a Scouting organization back home, Francis said.
“We’re excited about what’s happening at Camp Buffalo Bill,” he added.
Starting this winter, the camp will undergo several improvements, including upgrading some buildings for winter use.
In addition, a large, new “gateway” entrance sign will be erected, the shower and restroom structure will be remodeled and campsite improvements will be completed, he added.
Campsite work will include building shade structures for picnic tables at all 11 tent sites and removing stumps and some standing dead trees left after an insect infestation swept though and killed many trees.
Signs naming the tent sites will designate them as Pahaska, Shoshone, Wapiti, Medicine Wheel, Arapahoe, Hole-in-the-Wall, Grizzly Rim, Trapper’s Point, North Fork, Big Horn and Powder River.
“We are working with the Forest Service” and permits for the work are pending, Francis said.
The camp now employs about 40 seasonal workers from the Cody area, including kitchen staff and instructors in aquatics, fly fishing, rock climbing and shooting.
The goal of the five-year improvement project is to “have the camp be a year-round facility with more confirmable accommodations,” he said.
“Our focus is education and recreation,” Francis said. “The theme is delivery of the promise of Scouting, which is fun, adventure and values.”
He said groups of up to 300 people are encouraged to rent the facility when it’s not in use by the Scouts.
“We have tent camping facilities for up to 300 and a large dining hall” that can hold that many people, Francis added.
He said the total cost for carrying out the entire five-year plan, as well as what specific work will be done in future years, is still under discussion.
One goal, however, is to increase the number of winter accommodations from what presently is available, which can sleep 15 people overnight in cold weather, to as many as 50 people during the winter.
Group occupancy is encouraged, he said.
Because fee structures have not been established, the cost of renting the camp at present is negotiable, depending on how much use the main lodge would have, Francis said.
But even with the planned renovation work, people can rent facilities now if arrangements are made in advance, he said.
For more information call the Central Wyoming Council, (307) 234-7329.
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Whitefeather wrote on Feb 10, 2010 9:17 AM: