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Wealthy group backs pursuit of Owasippe
As seen in the Muskegon Chronicle - 3/27/08

Posted by Lynn Moore

An organization hoping to acquire the Owasippe Scout Reservation is partnering with a well-heeled national conservation group that's already expressed an interest in Muskegon County park property.

The Trust for Public Land was identified Tuesday as the national group working with the Owasippe Outdoor Education Center to preserve the embattled wilderness camp area owned by the Chicago Area Council of Boy Scouts.

TPL, as the Trust of Public Land is known, reported $220 million in revenue for its 2006-07 fiscal year on its 2006 federal tax filing. It is a national nonprofit land conservation organization based in San Francisco that since 1972 has preserved 2 million acres in 47 states valued at $4 billion, according to its Web site. It conserves natural places, parks, community gardens, historic sites, farms and ranches.

The OOEC has been hoping to present to the Chicago Area Council a purchase offer of $12.3 million for the 4,800-acre Owasippe property. The purchase price is based on a recent appraisal of the sprawling property in Blue Lake Township.

Joe Sener, chairman of the OOEC, said he is hoping to connect with the president of the Chicago Boy Scouts council, even though its board recently voted to continue a lawsuit against the township aimed at completing another $19 million purchase deal for the land.

So far, the Boy Scouts have not expressed interest in the OOEC's offer.

The TPL conceivably could purchase the Owasippe property outright and hold it for a time as it seeks reimbursement from such private and public organizations as the Michigan Department of Natural Resources Land Trust Fund, said Christopher D. Knopf, director of regional programs for the TPL's central region.

Knopf declined to go into details on how the purchase could be completed, though he said TPL often works with other organizations and conservation groups to get projects done. It also provides loans to groups purchasing property.

"I believe a conservation solution could work well for everyone," Knopf said, adding that he wants to meet the needs of the Chicago Boy Scouts while conserving the land's natural resources and providing such recreational activities as fishing and horseback riding.

"I try to work in a constructive vein," he said.

Financial support for TPL comes from government grants and contributions from individuals, corporations, foundations and landowners it works with. It also raises money through the purchase and sale of land.

TPL already has expressed interest in helping Muskegon County purchase property adjacent to the county's Meinert Park.

Knopf said he's been keeping abreast of developments with the Owasippe property for the past five years, partly because his parents live in Whitehall. Knopf, who grew up in Ohio, had been working for TPL's division in Ohio.

Knopf became the regional director based in St. Paul, Minn. and contacted the OOEC last summer, Sener said.

"(TPL officials) are a real reputable source," Sener said. "They appear to be very interested in making this happen."

OOEC wants to turn the reservation into an education and convention operation, complete with convention center and hotel. It also would continue allowing scouts to camp on the site.

The Chicago Boy Scouts' strategic plan includes a desire to maintain a smaller camping facility at Owasippe -- something Sener said would fit well with OOEC's plans.

"We certainly believe we have something that can help the Chicago Area Council and help preserve Owasippe and make it a fantastic resource," Sener said. "We're in this for the long haul. As long as Scouting is around in Chicaago, there'll be a place for them at Owasippe."

Chicago Boy Scouts officials have claimed they no longer can afford to maintain Owasippe, which has operated as a Boy Scouts camp for nearly a century. They say it is draining money from other programs that could serve inner-city boys.

The Scouts saw an answer to their financial issues with the $19 million offer to purchase Owasippe from Holland businessman Benjamin A. Smith III. However, that offer is contingent on the property being rezoned to allow for residential development.

Blue Lake Township refused to zone the land for anything but camp or conservation use and so the matter ended up in circuit court, where a judge ruled earlier this month in the township's favor. The Boy Scouts voted last week to appeal that decision.

Knopf said he did not want TPL to be publicly identified as the OOEC's partner because of the litigation. Now, he said, he is hoping the parties can "reach common ground."

Another of OOEC's partners, is the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute, which hopes to establish a camp on the Owasippe property for inner-city youth. Sener said the Parks Institute has pledged a "substantial financial contribution" to the project.

Its plan is to offer youth from the city opportunities they wouldn't otherwise have to experience nature, Sener said.

"There's a real condition that's been identified recently called nature deficit disorder where kids who grow up at risk in the inner city all they see is manmade, it's all cement and steel ... and they tend to lose contact with a higher presence, a higher being and how they fit in the great order," Sener said.

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Judge blocks housing plan for Scout camp
As seen in the Muskegon Chronicle - 3/6/08

by Lynn Moore

A judge has ruled squarely in favor of Blue Lake Township in its battle against residential development on the Boy Scouts' Owasippe camp property.

The township's zoning ordinance that prohibits residential development at Owasippe and other camps in the township is fair and appropriate, 14th Circuit Judge William C. Marietti ruled in his opinion dated Wednesday.

"There are specific and well-founded reasons for this zoning scheme involving its consistency with the Master Plan, the character of the Township, harmony with contiguous properties, inadequacy and degradation of the infrastructure and impact on the environment," Marietti wrote.

The Chicago Area Council of Boy Scouts sued the township over the zoning, which it needed reversed so it could complete a $19 million deal to sell the Owasippe land to Holland area businessman Benjamin A. Smith III. The Scouts have indicated they will appeal Marietti's decision.

An alternate zoning proposal presented to the township by the Scouts would have allowed up to 1,278 new homes on the pristine 4,800 acres. However, Marietti calculated a potential for 2,400 new homes if the property was rezoned for residential development.

Curiously, the Scouts only sought in court to overthrow the current forest recreation-institution zoning and revert back to the previous forest recreation zoning, which also severely restricted residential development. Its argument was that the current zoning severely and unfairly restricts the value and use of the property.

The Scouts' options now are to appeal Marietti's decision, continue using the property for Boy Scout camping as it has for more than 96 years, or sell the property or portions of it for other camps and/or conservation efforts. They also could go back to the township for a different zoning designation.

A strategic plan leaked to the press Wednesday indicates the Chicago Boy Scouts are considering developing a smaller camping facility at Owasippe in 2008 and selling "surplus" Owasippe property.

The Scouts have received an "intent to purchase" document for more than $12 million from a group interested in developing an education and conference facility on the property allowed under current zoning. The leader of that group, Joe Sener, said it is now ready to present an offer to the Chicago Boy Scouts and reveal its major national conservationist partner who will help line up public and private funding.

Sener said the group didn't want to appear to "short-circuit" due process, but now that Marietti has released his opinion, is prepared to "make them an offer that solves their problem."

The Boy Scouts have said they are losing money on Owasippe and can't afford to continue operating it.

Camps adjacent to Owasippe -- including Camp Pendalouan, Camp Gerber and Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp -- have expressed interest in purchasing some of the Owasippe property.

Blue Lake Township Supervisor Don Studaven said Marietti's decision validates townships' and cities' rights to plan for property as citizens see fit.

"What it ensures is that townships and small cities can plan their communities as their citizens ask them, and big money can't come in and force them to do anything," Studaven said.

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