Scouting in Alaska

Scouting in Alaska has a long history, from the 1920s to the present day, serving thousands of youth in programs that suit the environment in which they live. Alaska shares a communal Scout history, only being broken into smaller councils in the 1960s.

Scouting in Alaska
Alaska Council's Mount McKinley Explorer Trek

Early history (1920s-1950)

Scouting came to Alaska in the 1920s, and the Alaska Territorial Council was created in the 1930s.

Recent history (1950–1990)

Scouting in Alaska today

There are two Boy Scouts of America local councils in Alaska.

Great Alaska Council
Great Alaska Council (#610)
OwnerBoy Scouts of America
HeadquartersAnchorage, Alaska
CountryUnited States
Founded1934
Website
scoutingalaska.org

The Western Alaska Council and Southeast Alaska Council merged to form the Great Alaska Council in January, 2006. The combined Supercouncil has 3,000 volunteers serving 16,000 youth.[1] The Western Alaska Council was formed in 1954 from a part of the Seattle Council, which had absorbed the Alaska Council in 1954.

Scouts in the Russian oblast of Magadan have a relationship with the Great Alaska Council.

Organization
  • Bear Paw District (serves the Matanuska-Susitna Borough and Valdez)
  • Denali District (serves Southern Anchorage and Girdwood)
  • Eklutna District (serves Northern Anchorage, Chugiak and Eagle River)
  • Maritime District (formerly of Southeast Alaska Council, serves Juneau, Haines, Sitka and Skagway)
  • Totem District (formerly of Southeast Alaska Council, serves Petersburg, Wrangell, Ketchikan, Prince of Wales Island, and environs)
  • Tustumena District (serves Kenai Peninsula, Cordova, Kodiak, and Western Alaska)

Order of the Arow

Nanuk Lodge #355 absorbed Kootz Lodge #523 when Western Alaska Council merged with Southeast Alaska Council.[2]

Nanuk Lodge was created in 1947, and is celebrating its 60th anniversary in 2007.

Midnight Sun Council
Midnight Sun Council (#696)
OwnerBoy Scouts of America
HeadquartersFairbanks, Alaska
CountryUnited States
Website
midnightsunbsa.org

The Midnight Sun Council serves interior and northern Alaska, and is headquartered in Fairbanks.

Organization
  • Tanana Valley District
  • Bush District[3]

Camps
  • Lost Lake Scout Camp[4]
  • Northern Lights High Adventure[5]

Order of the Arrow

Toontuk Lodge #549 was founded in 1961. The lodge is named after the barren ground caribou, which is known to the Yupik Eskimo people of Western Alaska as Toontuk. Toontuk Lodge was recognized with the National Service Grant in 1997. The money was used to rehabilitate the waterfront at Lost Lake Scout Camp[6] with sand and a lifeguard tower. In 2006, Toontuk Lodge celebrated its 45th anniversary. Among its projects that year, the Lodge gave the Council a large amphitheater sited on Lost Lake at Lost Lake Camp.

Girl Scouting in Alaska

As of October 2009 two Girl Scout councils exist in Alaska.

Farthest North Girl Scout Council
Farthest North Girl Scout Council
OwnerGSUSA
HeadquartersFairbanks, Alaska
CountryUnited States
Website
fairbanksgirlscouts.org

The Farthest North Girl Scout Council serves the largest geographical area of any of the more than 300 Girl Scout Councils in the United States, serving everything from the 63rd parallel north of the Alaska Range, more than 350,000 square miles (910,000 km2).

This council was started in 1925 by a handful of girls in Fairbanks, Alaska headed by Jessie Bloom. Girl Scouting expanded to rural Alaska in 1945 with the establishment of the first troop in Nome. Since English was not the predominantly spoken language, they learned the Girl Scout Promise in Yup'ik and English.

Girl Scouts of Alaska
Girl Scouts of Alaska
OwnerGSUSA
HeadquartersAnchorage, Alaska
CountryUnited States
Website
girlscoutsalaska.org

Girl Scouts of Alaska was formed on October 1, 2009 by the merger of Girl Scouts Susitna Council and Tongass Alaska Girl Scout Council and serves all of Alaska south of the 63 North.

Camps

Camp Togowoods in Wasilla near Anchorage and Camp Singing Hills in Peters Creek whose only building burned down in July 2009.

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See also
  • Scouting in British Columbia
  • Scouting in Yukon

References
  1. Hook, James; Franck, Dave; Austin, Steve (1982). An Aid to Collecting Selected Council Shoulder Patches with Valuation.
  2. http://nanuk355.com
  3. http://www.midnightsunbsa.org/tanana_valley_district.html
  4. http://www.midnightsunbsa.org/lost-lake-scout-camp/lost-lake-scout-camp.html
  5. http://www.alaskahighadventure.org
  6. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2013-06-16. Retrieved 2013-05-21.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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