Looking for suggestions

[weldon]

I have a group of boy scouts that want to practice making survival shelters and whatnot. All of the rangers from the national forest service that I have talked to about doing that in a national forest have said things like... "well the boy scouts teaches the boys to be prepared so they won't have to do that" or "you can't do that here"

That leaves me with the question of where do I take the boys to do this? Growing up I always did it in my parents back 40, but the back 40 is gone....

Looking for somewhere in Washington State.

 

[scalesandtails]

try the "BLM" Or go somewhere the rangers are not!

 

[skammer]

Public wilderness lands.

Private wilderness land owners with permission.

Remote land nobody will notice your activities.

Its important to practice shelters with real materials so find a way.

Skam

 

[tknife]

BLM lands are the best bet. Also, most Nat'l Forrsests don't care if you use fallen wood, they just don't want you chopping down live stuff. Nat'l Parks don't hardly let you do ANYTHING though. A good rule of thumb is, if they let you have a fire, you usually have more freedom.

 

[elvenbladesmith07]

man i can find a place to practice in my ohio backyard that is barely an acre with few trees. how come you cant find some remote place way out in washington? like it was said earlier look for a place where there is no rangers and nobody will notice your activities.

 

[yans]

I had the same problem here but it was quickly solved. Just find a farmer in the area and ask to use the land on the other side of the his fields. Then have the kids do a policing of the trash in front of his property on the road.

 

[pict]

One of the best shelters and one you can make without cutting anything is the debris shelter. As long as you take it down at the end of the exercise you won't harm a thing. Thanks for being a scoutmaster, it's an important job. Mac

 

[weldon]

Thanks for the advice and suggestions. Appreciate the help all

-w

 

[backwoodsman]

I know people who have ran a ad in the local paper wanting someone who will let them use their land and they have had alot of luck that way.

 

[SurviveAl]

Weldom,
Where are you in Washington ?
Allan

 

[Thomas Linton]

Good topic.

We have had good luck with second-growth tracts that are for sale for development. They are covered with brush and small trees that are going to be bulldozed shortly. We tell the owner that we will take down anything we build and will not touch trees over 2" in diameter. We get turn-downs but also get approvals.

Access to material is a big problem in instruction. The only Scout camp we have attended that has candidates for the Wilderness Survival MB actually build a brush shelter stockpiles truck loads of brush from off-site. The rest have the boys use plastic. Most survival (as opposed to bushcraft or primitive living) books teach that a tarp or tarp substitute is essential gear, but I would prefer some instruction and experience in building a brush shelter. Most persons drastically underestimate the time and effort typically needed to build a brush shelter that will keep out a heavy rain.

 

[weldon]

SurvivAl,

We're located about 20 miles NW of Seattle. For the summer wingding we're willing to go whereever in the state, but we'd like to get a couple of weekend trials in before the summer.

Thomas,

Great idea about the second growth land that's up for development, and stockpiling brush from off site. Didn't even think about that and I know someone who works with a land development company... (one of the boys father)

 

[SurviveAl]

Weldon,
The Rainer State School in Buckley, has a large area of wooded land. There are 3 open end A frames and campsite on them belonging to the Boy Scouts. I used to due quite a bit of Search and Rescue training there.
I do not have a point of contact for the site. You should be able to locate one thru the Pierce Co. Boy Scout council or perhaps from the State school itself.
Hope this helps.
Good Luck.
Allan

 

[Bob W]

Private property seems the best idea for your purposes. Regardless of what the F.S. rangers tell you, as long as you're within the law they can't stop you from using Forest Service property.

One big thing that gets overlooked too often, be sure to emphasize a no-trace ethic with the boys (refill fire pits, don't mar living trees, don't leave trash, bury waste, etc. - you know, the basics). With 250 million Americans sharing relatively small areas of public land, there's no alternative. Someone walking over your camp area an hour after you've left should never know you were there, or at least it shouldn't be obvious - it's very hard to fool a real tracker.

Good Luck and have fun,
Bob