CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Two major groups of the Boy Scouts of America in West Virginia will be merged. The Buckskin Council will expand to take over the administrative duties of the Tri-State Council.
“As times change, opportunities change,” said Scout Executive Jeff Purdy of the Buckskin Council. “Local scouting has determined the best course of action is to merge those two councils.”
The result will be the largest scout council in West Virginia which encompasses half the state. Smaller councils are still in place in Fairmont, Wheeling and Parkersburg, but Purdy said the new council, which will still be known as the Buckskin Council, will encompass 32 counties in four states.
“Nothing really changes for our local scout leaders,” said Purdy. “On a local level scouts in Ashland, Kentucky or in Ohio or in Virginia nothing really changes other than we’ve merged a couple of corporate offices. Scouting is still done on a local level and that’s not going to change.”
Purdy said the change will give scouts in the region more opportunities. The new council will have six separate camps as well as having the Summit Reserve in Fayette County in the middle of their region. Although a national camp, Purdy said efforts are being made to allow local scouts to use the Summit at times when there is less going on there from a national level.
“Just being a larger Boy Scout Council geographically gives us a larger footprint,” Purdy said. “It gives us a chance to have a larger impact on youth in our communities.”