Honans volunteer at Wyoming project

Special to The Tribune
Published: August 12, 2008

The largest service project by the Boy Scouts since World War II, the largest service project ever for the U.S. Forest Service; five National Forest sites, 5,000 Scout volunteers and five weeks of service – that all adds up to Arrow Corps 5.

Eufaulians Terry and Anmarie Honan have just returned from spending a fabulous week in the Bridger-Teton National Forest in Wyoming where they participated in the Arrow Corps 5 project. The project was a joint effort of the Order of the Arrow, the Boy Scout’s national honor society and the U.S. Forest Service. Terry is a member of the National Committee of the Order of the Arrow and Anmarie is a member of the local Order of the Arrow lodge, Cowikee Lodge. Approximately 1,030 Order of the Arrow volunteers, including eight from Cowikee Lodge of the Alabama-Florida Council, participated in the Bridger-Teton project.

The Arrow Corps 5 project at Bridger-Teton was the last of the five service projects conducted at five different U.S. Forest Service sites across the country over a five-week period this summer. The national forest sites were Mark Twain, Mo.; Manti-La Sal, Utah; George Washington and Jefferson, Va.; Shasta-Trinity, Calif.; and Bridger-Teton, Wyo.. The Order of the Arrow’s 5,000 youth and adult members provided more than 250,000 hours of service.

“Arrow Corps 5 is the largest, most complex, most challenging conservation project ever conceived by the Order of the Arrow and Boy Scouts of America,” said Brad Haddock, chairman, National Order of the Arrow Committee. “This project provided a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for each participant to set an example of leadership in service to those who treasure our national forests.”

The service projects included ecosystem restoration, invasive plant and tree removal, trail construction and maintenance, bridge work, campsite improvements, erosion and weed control and fence removal. Scouts from all across the United States made significant and positive impacts on their national forests. The project also served as a precursor to the Boy Scouts’ plans for its 100th anniversary celebration in 2010.

“For nearly 100 years, the Boy Scouts of America has created a strong foundation of leadership, service, and community for millions of America’s youth,” Haddock said. “We celebrate this legacy as we reaffirm our commitment to inspire and prepare future generations of leaders through historic and meaningful projects and partnerships.”

More than 180,000 youth and adults scouts and Scouters are members of the Order of the Arrow, the national honor society of the Boy Scouts of America. The purposes of the Order of the Arrow are to (1) recognize those Scout campers who best exemplify the Scout Oath and Law in their daily lives, (2) develop and maintain camping traditions and spirit, (3) promote Scout camping, and (4) crystallize the Scout habit of helpfulness into a life purpose of leadership in cheerful service to others. The Boy Scouts of America serves 4.7 million young people between 7 and 20 years of age with more than 300 councils throughout the United States and its territories. The Boy Scouts of America is the nation’s foremost youth program of character development and values-based leadership training.