Town Meeting(s) Rescheduled

Too tired to type much tonight, but please take note of the new info (more on the related tab at the top of the page):

April 30 in Kalispell
Possibly a second meeting in Whitefish or Columbia Falls

Stay tuned....and contact council if you'd like them to know that a C Falls meeting is important to C Falls troops, parents, leaders, and community members (lrpp@gsmw.org)

Thanks!

Today's food for thought:  Sleep is very important.

Representative Bill Beck to Girlscouts: You're not alone

Yesterday's post may have made our progress sound a little....stagnant?  We've found that our limitations so far are pretty darn limiting....hefty and grounded in law and policy decisions that are so far not at all in our favor.  Issues we can't address with cookie sales!

So far, our camp is in the wrong place at the wrong time politically, but she is still standing where she belongs, so we are still ready to do whatever it takes to keep her there.

Which brings me to today's happy event....a phone call from Bill Beck, who wanted to let us know that we're not in this alone, and that solutions are being sought.  He's begun meeting with agencies and organizations that could help with solutions or play important roles, and he has more meetings to come.

He sees that there are win-win possibilities here, and it is EXTREMELY heartening to know that those with the resources and skills to do what we can't are engaged and active in doing so!  Stay tuned, campers!

Today's food for thought:
This is the day, in 1962, that Rachel Carson's Silent Spring was published.

Count-down to Town Meetings ~ A couple of weeks to go

Times and places are still to be determined, but council is looking at the 30th in Kalispell, then hopefully another in Whitefish or Columbia Falls.

STAY TUNED and stay active: To save Westana, our hill is still pretty steep!

We have some very achievable goals, and some that are pretty challenging (ahem, $500,000 is a lot of cookies, as pointed out in last week's Missoulian article).

We still need letters to council!

We still need strong attendance at the town meetings!

We still need ideas and local commitment to long term support once the camp is saved!

We also know there are an awful lot of stories out there we haven't heard yet.

Please stay tuned, we need you, council needs you, Westana needs you, and local girlscouts need you!

Today's food for thought:

To take a service unit on a campout for two nights in the Flathead Valley can be more expensive than you might think, even on public land.  Without Westana as an option, our bi-monthly Service Unit campouts may be too much for local troops to afford.

Court ruling halts law to cut lease rate increases (cabin/residential leases)

This article pertains to a different type of leases than ours, but us relevant to school trust lease lands and the idea of capturing full market value for all school trust lands.  Not great timing.  The relevance/need for regulatory relief is further discussed elsewhere on this blog, including the easement option page.

http://missoulian.com/news/local/judge-halts-law-to-cut-increases-in-northwestern-montana-cabin/article_6ae6006e-7f92-11e1-b1c7-001a4bcf887a.html

Wouldn't it be great if this included Westana?

Drilling fees pay for new national forest lands in 15 states, including Montana

Read more: http://billingsgazette.com/news/state-and-regional/montana/drilling-fees-pay-for-new-national-forest-lands-in-states/article_d0e4a4db-4d1c-5582-b0b0-bb40eab4b66c.html#ixzz1rOBO98N4

New Research Confirms Lifetime Benefits of Girls' Participation in Girl Scouting

New Research Confirms Lifetime Benefits of Girls' Participation in Girl Scouting

Approximately one in every two adult women in the United States was a girl scout at some point, according to this article.  Society/Community benefits to active scouting are enormous....remote areas need resources and support to keep scouting alive (in some cases staff, in some cases trainings, in some cases a facility like Westana makes a huge difference in what troops can do....and in our case, whether or not we can keep up our campouts....this is the return I feel we need, in an area removed from a lot of the resources troops in larger areas may have more ready access to).

Missoulian Article April 3 ~ 'Cut Girl Scouts Some Slack'

http://missoulian.com/news/opinion/editorial/cut-girl-scouts-some-slack/article_8b72c22e-7d97-11e1-8673-001a4bcf887a.html

Happy 100th anniversary, Girl Scouts! Now cough up $25,000.

That’s essentially Montana’s poorly timed message to the state chapter of the national youth organization. The state Department of Natural Resources and Conservation recently let the Scouts know that their annual lease payment for Camp Westana is ballooning from $5,000 to $25,000.

State officials met with leaders of the Girl Scouts of Montana and Wyoming and agreed to extend the lease for one year. Even so, the Girl Scouts say there’s no way they can pay the new rental price, which came as a result of a reappraisal on the 7.2-acre property on Lower Stillwater Lake just north of Whitefish.

Last month Girl Scouts of the United State of America celebrated its founding 100 years ago, when Juliette Gordon Low hosted the very first Girl Scouts meeting in Savannah, Ga. The organization now counts 2.3 million active Girl Scouts nationwide.

Some of those Girl Scouts are now planning town meetings in Whitefish and Columbia Falls to drum up public support for Camp Westana and come up with ideas to save the beloved property. A Facebook campaign – at www.facebook.com/SaveWestana – is already under way.

But surely the state can cut this youth organization some slack. State government leaders need to work with the Girl Scouts to determine a more reasonable long-term lease payment.