Posted on 04/19/2025 3:35:31 PM PDT by fwdude
IDAHO FALLS — Stakeholders with the Grand Teton Council and other local community leaders gathered Wednesday to discuss ways of increasing membership for the Scouting program after a massive drop in numbers five years ago.
The Grand Teton Council is part of Scouting America, formerly the Boy Scouts of America, and covers eastern Idaho and parts of western Wyoming.
Since 2019, the Grand Teton Council and Scouting America have struggled to maintain and grow their membership after The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints stopped using the organization in lieu of starting its own youth program.
“We lost 95% of our membership, and along with that was a lot of adult leadership,” Grand Teton Council District Director Elias Lopez said during the meeting. “We retained 1,500 out of 23,000 (youths).”
Along with the LDS departure, Lopez said their financial support also disappeared.
Lopez said they are on track to meet their membership numbers to maintain their charter with the national program, but they lack the ability to create new Scout units and find financial support.
“We can still do it, but we need everybody’s help to do this,” Lopez said.
Part of the discussion involved where and how Scouting can be used to help kids and adults who struggle with mental health or addiction within the community.
Idaho Falls City Councilman John Radford expressed concerns about a crisis of loneliness in the community and how groups like Scouting America can combat the problem. He said the growth of eastern Idaho has created more opportunities for people to become involved in the organization.
“One of the things we’re most concerned with in the city is that our youth are in crisis,” he said.
Radford asked Bonneville County Sheriff Sam Hulse about suicide rates, and Hulse said that the rates of suicide in the younger generation have been higher, and attempted suicides by juveniles have become almost a weekly occurance.
Audrey Preston, vice president of membership for the Grand Teton Council, said this issue also affects those on the opposite end of the age spectrum, and that Scouting could help them out by offering them leadership or mentorship roles.
She asked Hulse what he’s seen, and Hulse responded that Idaho typically ranks in the top 10 for suicide rates, but specifically, those over 70.
Hulse referenced the works of Thomas Joiner, a psychologist focused on suicide rates. He said one of the main factors for suicides in the older generations, specifically men, is losing a sense of purpose or belonging.
“It’s prevalent in the male population, and we would love to say that with all the emerging resources we’re seeing that drop, but we are not. We do see it exponentially and continue to climb,” Hulse said.
Radford and Preston pointed out that Scouting is a possible avenue to help those members of the community.
“They need us, and they need to be involved. There’s so much power in knowing that you have people depending on you, and just those connections make a difference,” Preston said.
Radford said growing up as a Scout helped him learn to be a good kid and exposed him to the lives of other community members.
He said his Scoutmaster was a nuclear engineer, which allowed him to learn that people could get that educated.
“I could seek a master’s degree or a PhD,” Radford said. “Scouting is that for us right now.”
Lopez said it’s vital for the 1,500 currently in the program to know that they have access to these community leaders. One way they have access is through programs like the Explorer’s Post through the Bonneville County Sheriff’s Office. The program allows, Scouts to learn about become a law enforcement officer.
Hulse said those teens learn the reality of becoming a deputy and about the profession, which helps to keep them out of trouble.
“I do think scouting is one of the things that we’re getting right, and we’re so thankful for our Explorer scouts,” Hulse said.
For those wanting to learn more about Scouting America or the Grand Teton Council, contact Lopez at (208) 522-5155 or visit tetonscouts.org.
Yep. Spot on.
Grooming USA formerly the Boy Groomers of America.
No kidding. There’s not a hint that they understand why membership is down NINETY FIVE PERCENT!
Wow. How can any organization cling to life after that loss?
Has anybody heard that BSA figured out what went wrong and what they can do to rectify it?
It’s the whole radical woke agenda, not just sexual predators.
you want to up your membership? get rid of the homos and use the boy scout manual from 1965. you will be to capacity within 3 years.
If they would just drop their 100 year name and identity and let in girls, new members and donors will flood in.
On my honor
I’ll do my best
To do my duty
To God and my country
And to obey the Scout law
To keep myself
Physically strong
Mentally awake
And morally straight.
I took that oath for the first time 64 years ago..
Maybe after it collapses completely, someone can buy the name and restore the Boy Scouts of America to what it used to be. Minus the pedophilia, of course.
More phageaux should do it...
You speak truth. The Mormons do a lot of things right. Their theology is “looney tunes” but I respect what they do right.
Scouting USA only opened up to girls. They need to be more inclusive to increase membership. They need to open to adults, transagers (adults who identify as children and boys versa), furries, transspecies (animals who identify as human and visa versa), minor attracted persons, the incarcerated, persons who identify as objects, addicts, congressmen, drag queens, insects (non-food), interstellar aliens, all 1,649 genders, gang bangers, mukbangers, rappers, sex workers, BDSM enthusiasts, serial killers, vagrants, whoever else not listed.
One of my fave replies is that libs ruin everything they touch. And the Boy Scouts is a prime example of taking something ranking most honorable and dragging it to Clinton/Biden/Dorkbama levels. Hate is the only rational response to such scum. Sorry, but ‘twould appear that dat’z da twuth.
Scouting For Boys.
....and Methodists!
They may need help and should get it. But I don’t think they belong in Scouting while they’re getting it. Kids you could make a case for, I suppose. But not adults.
Liberals ruin everything.
US Supreme Court lets $2.46 billion Boy Scouts sex abuse settlement proceed
Feb 22 (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday allowed the Boy Scouts of America’s $2.46 billion settlement with sexual abuse victims to move forward, lifting a temporary pause imposed in response to an appeal by 144 former scouts who opposed the agreement.
The order supersedes one issued by Justice Samuel Alito on Feb. 16 that froze the settlement to give the full court more time to consider a Feb. 9 request by abuse claimants who sought to stop the settlement from moving forward while they pursue appeals.
Get rid of the homos, pedos, women, and girls. Make it the Boy Scouts again and see what happens.
Could you repeat that. sir?
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