Scout Education Center and Campground in Rancho Palos Verdes

** PETITION **

** For a SCOUT EDUCATION CENTER and CAMPGROUND **
** to be included in the Rancho Palos Verdes Coastal Vision Plan **


Representatives of the Peninsula Girl Scouts, Palos Verdes Hills Girl Scouts and the Los Angeles Area Council and Pacifica District of the Boy Scouts of America respectfully submit this proposal to the Rancho Palos Verdes City Council for inclusion in the Coastal Vision Plan.


Vision
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We have a unique opportunity to maximize the benefit to our children and adults through the recently acquired Portuguese Bend Nature Preserve and the neighboring parkland in Rancho Palos Verdes by developing an environmental education center where Scouts and other youth groups can experience the wild and learn about the native habitat that only the Peninsula has to offer. This outdoor facility with its access to everything from oceans and tide pools to hiking and astronomy in a non-urban setting would be a truly unique treasure in the Los Angeles area.


Proposal
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Representatives from the Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts of America would like to propose that the City of Rancho Palos Verdes include a multipurpose Scout Center in its Coastal Vision Plan. This facility would include a:

--> Scout house for meetings, training sessions, kitchen, craft rooms and a learning center
--> Group campsite for 150 people with bathroom facilities, outdoor amphitheater and fire ring
--> Low impact outdoor recreation activities such as an archery range

We envision this multipurpose center as a place where Scout troops can gather to explore the spaces and places on the Peninsula away from the city lights and suburban development. It would ideally be situated near or on the nature preserve so that youth could extend their experience onto the trails and hikes in the area. A camp where Scouts and family members can stay in tents would provide facilities for enjoying nature with the lowest possible impact on the environment.

The facility would also provide the hands-on experience that Scouts need to develop their character and community service. Groups staying at the camp would be encouraged to do service projects during their stay, such as maintaining trails and installing native plants, working in a reciprocal relationship with the Land Conservancy and the City. As well, those working on their Boy Scout Eagle projects and Girl Scout Gold Award projects in the area would be encouraged to hold their community service projects at the center, helping to enhance the facilities and surrounding parks.

Scouts would also be able to earn merit badges at the facility, from the Cub Scout Outdoorsman Activity Award to the Boy Scout merit badges for astronomy, archery, camping, emergency preparedness, geology, hiking, nature, and oceanography. Girl Scouts could participate in Try Its for Camping, Earth is our Home, Earth and Sky, Eco-Explorer, Outdoor Adventurer, Camping, and Water Everywhere.

The camp would be compatible with other places and proposals, such as the Point Vicente Interpretive Center and Abalone Cove. The multipurpose center could also serve as an invaluable science resource for our schools during school hours and also provide day camps during the summer months for students living in the area.


Background
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The Palos Verdes Peninsula is home to an estimated 10,000 registered Boy and Girl Scouts and family members. These Scouts are very active, participating in weekly meetings, weekend community service projects, camping trips, summer camps, and other outdoor activities. The challenge living in Palos Verdes though, is finding facilities, campsites or summer camps that offer outdoor activities that are truly outdoors, rather than being near a freeway or in the middle of the Los Angeles urban environment. This usually requires driving several hours to a non-urban campground. Even rarer is the ability to have a campground where our children can learn about the ocean environment and tide pools in a natural setting.

As well, our Scouts have the challenge of finding reasonably-priced space for their meetings, which occur on a weekly basis and can include anywhere from 30-120 people. As well the ideal meeting site would include space to store Scout-related equipment, such as flags and other items, breakout rooms for those working on merit badges, and outdoor facilities for the boys and girls working on outdoor activities.


Conclusion
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The city of Rancho Palos Verdes has shown its commitment to create a habitat preserve to preserve the beauty of the citys coastal area. A multipurpose Scout Education Center and Campground would support our preserve by providing prudent access, building awareness and encouraging service opportunities. A local camp would mean our children could develop a relationship over time with our natural habitat and give back to the community at the same time.

We respectfully request that the City of Rancho Palos Verdes include this proposal in the Coastal Vision Plan. In return we commit to helping make this vision a reality by actively promoting the preservation and enhancement of this open preserve.