Boy Scouts consider selling land in northern Minnesota

DNR is potential buyer for Camp Cuyuna

By FRITZ BUSCH

Journal Staff Writer

MANKATO -- In an effort to reduce long-term debt, the Twin Valley Council of the Boy Scouts of America plans to sell 163 acres of Camp Cuyuna, northeast of Brainerd.

The land, near the family camp on Big and Little Pickeral Lakes, is appraised at $1,076,000. The property is not usually used by Scouts at summer camp.

Property sale proceeds would be used to reduce Council long-term debt to a more manageable level and maximize available funds for youth programs and camp improvements.

The council would prefer selling the land to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, as long as Scouts can raise $450,000 to match an agency grant. The DNR would pay $300,000 in up-front cash for a total purchase price of $1.2 million using Reinvest In Minnesota (RIM) money.

The DNR plan is preferred over a sale to private purchasers, according to Twin Valley Council Scout Executive Paul A. Wilkinson.

A Mankato development group offered the council $1.4 million for the parcel. It would maintain a free-of-charge family camping area for the near future.

A former area Scout offered $1.5 million for the land and agreed to allow campground use for five years.

Twin Valley Council spent $1.9 million for its 9,000-square foot headquarters building in Mankato. It owes $930,000 on the building and pays $45,000 in annual interest payments.

Wealth Enhancement Group, a financial services company, recently leased 2,174 square feet of office space in the council headquarters building for $28,000 per year.

Mark Furth of New Ulm, a member of the Twin Valley Council Board, said the council's current debt is about $800,000. It owns a large camp up north and a Camp Norseland, near St. Peter. He prefers a sale to the DNR.

"Both have significant value," Furth said about the camps. "The DNR would be an excellent neighbor. That proposal sounds good to me. We've improved our service center substantially. Now it's time to improve our camp. I'm pretty confident we'll end up doing that," Furth said.

In a recent letter to Scout volunteers and parents, Wilkinson said neither camp meets Boy Scout of America standards for Cub Scout resident camps and doesn't meet the needs of Cub Scouts and their families.

The council is considering finding a camp location that could better serve Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts throughout the service area. A Strategic Planning Committee report is expected at the Aug. 12, 2004 Executive Board meeting.