The Boy Scouts of America say they “were green before it was cool to be green.” But a Hearst Newspapers investigation has found Scouting councils nationwide have logged and sold to developers thousands of acres of sensitive forestlands, often for love of a different green: Cash.

Profit trumps preservation
We found dozens of cases over the past 20 years of local Boy Scout councils logging or selling prime woodlands to big timber interests, developers or others, turning quick money and often doing so instead of seeking ways to preserve such lands.

Settlement silenced critics
Critics of the Seattle council’s past logging claim the state’s largest Scouting group consistently logs for profit, despite the real and potential environmental harm its harvests pose.

Conservationist’s gift logged for profit
It’s been 62 years since conservationist Virgil McCroskey donated 400 acres of timberland in Idaho to the Boy Scouts, with big ideas for a big new camp. But the land instead has become a moneymaker for the Inland Northwest Council.

New York camp a virtual parking lot
Cedarlands, a 5,000-acre reservation in the Adirondack Mountains, is one of several camps the Boy Scouts of America have logged in the northeastern states.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/specials/scoutslogging/