Union Volunteers Help Construct Boy Scout Ranges in Oregon
This is a “feel-good” story about volunteers who helped build three modern ranges at the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) Camp Meriwether facility in coastal Oregon.
For the shooting sports to survive and thrive, we need to train new shooters, particular young boys and girls. Many of us learned to shoot in the Boy Scouts. Now, through the efforts of Union volunteers, thousands of Scouts will enjoy quality marksmanship training at Camp Meriwether. Sixteen skilled volunteers have helped construct a 24-lane rifle range, a 24-lane archery range, and a 10-station shotgun range. An official dedication ceremony is planned later this summer.
Union volunteers teamed with the Union Sportsmen’s Alliance to help complete an ambitious shooting range-expansion project at the 790-acre Camp Meriwether in Oregon. Sixteen volunteers from the United Union of Roofers, Waterproofers and Allied Workers (RWAW) Local 49 and Laborers’ International Union of North America (LiUNA) Locals 737 and 296 donated 260 hours of skilled labor to help complete the $800,000 project, which added three new ranges to the popular Boy Scout camp.
Archery and shooting sports (airgun, rifle, and shotgun) are among the Boy Scout’s most popular activities. Yet for years, Camp Meriwether’s facilities were limited to just eight rifle shooting stations, eight archery stations, and two shotgun stations.
In 2013, the BSA Cascade Pacific Council decided to expand Meriwether’s facilities with new 24-lane rifle range, 24-lane archery range, and 10-station shotgun range. After years of planning and site prep, the project’s final phase began in 2018. This spring and summer, union volunteers assisted in the framing, sheeting, and underlayment for the three new range structures, which triple the camp’s capacity to teach scouts marksmanship.
“The involvement of skilled trade volunteers is so important when a BSA camp takes on a major project,” said Frank Reigelman, BSA’s team lead for outdoor programs and properties. “Kids from southern California to Washington get together here to learn about the outdoors and experience activities like archery, trapshooting, and riflery,” added USA project leader Travis Hopkins, of RWAW Local 49. “This teaches them pastimes they can enjoy for a lifetime.”
Union Sportsmen’s Alliance CEO Scott Vance added: “The Boy Scouts of America will use these new ranges to teach thousands of youths safe and responsible firearms and archery skills each season for years to come.”
About Camp Meriwether
Located in rugged wilderness along the Pacific coast near Cloverdale, Oregon, 790-acre Camp Meriwether, the flagship of the BSA’s Cascade Pacific Council, can accommodate more than 500 campers each day. Acquired in 1926, Camp Meriwether is one of the few Boy Scout camps fronting the ocean — it boasts two miles of private beach.
Camp Meriwether includes Lake Chamberlain, a fresh-water lake for swimming and boating, a trading post, a .22 rifle range, a shotgun range, an archery range, a black powder range, scoutcraft, and an ecology study center. For experienced campers, Meriwether offers high adventure hikes and a rock climbing program on a 44′ tower.
Click Video to see Camp’s Beaches, Facilities, and Adventure Programs:
The Boy Scouts of America (BSA) has created a new BSA National Foundation to promote firearms safety training and marksmanship instruction for Boy Scouts. An initial $500,000 donation by Larry and Brenda Potterfield will serve to kick-start the BSA Foundation’s operations. As long-time supporters of their local BSA council, the Potterfields wanted to help more Scouts across America gain experience, confidence and expertise when it came to firearm safety and the shooting sports.
