walk in the woods

I suspect the timing might have more to do with homosexuality being removed from the DSM in the mid 70s.

or not showing up period.

That would be interesting to watch.

I haven't used it in a while but at one point I also used http://www.gpsvisualizer.com/. They used to have a way to upload GPX files which then showed up on the maps. So if you plot your orienteering course with a GPSr, it can show the points for you automatically. YMMV as it has been several years since I did this.

Pay attention to the caltopo maps. I used them for my recent trip to the Porkies. One of the maps had contour lines in meters while the other had them in feet. It was my first time using the site so I'm willing to stipulate to operator error but I couldn't find a way to switch back and forth.

I regret that I have but one click to give to this campaign.

My Senator, Dick Durbin, Minority Whip has publically said he'd have to "think long and hard" about whether a religious school should maintain their tax-exempt status if they hold employees to a religious code. I don't think it's much of a stretch for lawyers to start parsing the meaning of the word is in order to find justification to destroy whatever they want destroyed.

Around 0 degrees with maybe 8 inches to a foot on the ground. In my opinion winter is the best time for night hikes and star gazing. Tips: All of what @@MattR said. Be aware of the "umbles" (mumbles, stumbles, fumbles, grumbles) when looking for signs of hypothermia. Sitting in a camp chair will make you cold. I prefer my white gas stove in the winter.

I have great affinity for the Boy Scouts, but, let's be honest, the BSA in an anachronism. Pioneering, camping, hiking, simply aren't parts of everyday society. People think their food comes from the grocery store. When they think "outdoors" they think Survivorman, Bear Grylls, Naked and Afraid, Dual Survival and Fat Guys in the Woods. I live in a rural area but I drive to work in the city every day of the summer listening to the Cook County Forest Preserve advertisements on the radio asking people to come out to the magical forest. But, most of the city-dwellers I work with aren't interested in more than a summer picnic at a drive-up shelter, or a hike along a crushed-stone path (preferably a boardwalk). They certainly aren't interested in camping every month and one week every summer. The folks that know I camp in the winter and have spent a week canoeing or hiking in wilderness areas think I'm insane. The rural folks I know that are interested in the outdoors aren't interested in the restrictions the BSA places on them or their boys. By the time these boys are 12 or 13 they've already been doing things like ATVs, snowmobiles and the like. They hunt with their dads, so plinking .22s at paper targets or shooting single-shot 410s isn't a thrill. They understand the difference between squirt guns and rifles. They've been forced to cut their Dad's grass since they were 10. By the time they are 14 or 15 they're driving tractors and trucks. It's not like the BSA hasn't tried, as already mentioned we had the Improved Scouting Program of the 70s and Scoutreach. We also have LfL, Soccer and Scouting, and now STEMscouts. But, by all means, let's keep blaming churches for all the ills of scouting rather than looking at the actual program issues. Sigh.

I think the boy/girl thing gets a pass because we're used to seeing it in sports. This Pew study, http://www.pewforum.org/2015/05/12/americas-changing-religious-landscape/, suggests the fastest and only growing demographic in the religious landscape is "none/other" which includes atheists, agnostics, nothing in particular under both religion is important and not important categories. In fact, that demographic made up 23% of the overall survey results (second only to evangelical Christians). Of that 23%, 70% are adults under 50 and 32% are adults under 30. Given the logic for the current change was basically changing social mores, and we can't afford to ignore that large of our target parent demographic, the God change will come quickly. Besides, the local option will already be established as the new normal.

The other problem with co-ed, at least as I've observed it, is all the adults fawning over a girl who outperforms her brother or another boy. Don't believe me? Name one pitcher from last years Little League World Series. You know, the one who was on the cover of Sports Illustrated. It's one of the reason I despise Cub family camping. It would be a disaster in today's US culture to go co-ed scouting at the Elementary/Jr. High level.

http://catholicscouts.org/

Well, regardless of TLUSA, and more back on topic, here's a report from the Desert News, http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865633343/LDS-Church-relationship-with-Boy-Scouts-in-doubt-may-create-new-international-program.html?pg=all. One interesting quote: "Hawkins told the Deseret News on Monday that church leaders Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, of the church's Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, General Young Men's President Stephen Owen and General Primary President Rosemary Wixom, all of whom belong to the BSA National Board, voted against the new policy." As I understand the structure the Young Men's President is responsible for the BSA programs for 11YO and up. The Primary President for the Cub level programs.

Friedman, circa 1970?: But the doctrine of "social responsibility" taken seriously would extend the scope of the political mechanism to every human activity. It does not differ in philosophy from the most explicitly collectivist doctrine. It differs only by professing to believe that collectivist ends can be attained without collectivist means. That is why, in my book Capitalism and Freedom, I have called it a "fundamentally subversive doctrine" in a free society, and have said that in such a society, "there is one and only one social responsibility of business–to use it resources and engage in activities designed to increase its profits so long as it stays within the rules of the game, which is to say, engages in open and free competition without deception or fraud." Quoted from http://www.colorado.edu/studentgroups/libertarians/issues/friedman-soc-resp-business.html.

And will they stop donations if they find out the volunteer is working with a religious unit that exercises their local option?

There are at least some Catholics that seem fine with TLUSA, http://www.catholictrail.com/. I notice this entry on their committee page: Richard MathewsRichard Mathews is the General Counsel for Trail Life USA and the former legal advisor for the National Catholic Committee on Scouting Executive Board He is an Eagle Scout and is the former General Counsel of the Boy Scouts of America, where he served for 11 years. Richard is an attorney focused on ministry non-profit corporations and employment law in Texas and serves as the general counsel for Trail Life USA. He is a member of the Michigan and Texas Bar Associations and is also admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court and the Federal Courts of Appeals for the Fifth and Sixth Circuits. Richard earned his law degree at the Drake University School of Law in 1983. He also earned a Master of Laws degree in Employment and Labor Law from Wayne State University in 1993. He received his undergraduate degree in political science and philosophy from the University of Michigan in 1979. Richard serves on the Board of Directors of Human Life International and is a member of the Association of Corporate Counsel, the St. Thomas More Society, the Cardinal Newman Society, the Christian Leadership Alliance and the Knights of Columbus. He and his wife, Laura, have been married for 30 years and active in parish life at St. Maria Goretti parish in Arlington, Texas.

TLUSA has a Trinitarian Statement of Faith for their adult leaders and charter organizations. My understanding is that is doctrinally different from the LDS teachings. http://www.troopca0007.com/troop-values/statement-of-faith--values.html Curiously, their answer regarding youth membership is more open for youth regarding faith than the BSA. http://www.traillifeusa.com/generalfaqs As far as the LDS leadership, the document I linked above says, 8.5 Calling Adult Scouting Leaders Worthy adults, whether members of the Church or not, may be called to serve as Scouting leaders.

LDS units might be small because they break the boys up by age. Per http://www.scouting.org/About/FactSheets/operating_orgs/Latter-day_Saints.aspx, 12 - 13 YOs are in a Troop, 14 -15 YOs are in a Team and 16-18 YOs are in a crew. The referenced page doesn't break out type of unit, so if the boys are evenly distributed by age, that might make 33 boys/ward kind of breakdown for Boy Scout aged youth. They also appear to run a smaller Cub program with just 8 - 10 YOs.

I don't know much about LDS scouting either, so, FWIW, http://www.ldsbsa.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/35814_scout-handbook_eng.pdf. I thought the document made it fairly clear that scouting is an adjunct to the Priesthood programs of the church. Here's one of the opening paragraphs that seems to support that: Scouting can help young men and boys enhance close relationships with their families and the Church while developing strong and desirable traits of character, citizenship, and physical and mental fitness. Under priesthood leadership, Scouting can complement the efforts of Aaronic Priesthood quorums and Primary classes in building testimonies in young men and boys. Scouting under Church sponsorship should become an extension of the home, Primary classes, and Aaronic Priesthood quorums. Scouting functions as part of the Church’s activity program for boys and young men. Section 5 of the document describes the operation of the 12 - 14 YO Boy Scout Troop. I suspect the BSA needs the LDS much more than the LDS needs the BSA.

Not the response I expected from the LDS. http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article/church-re-evaluating-scouting-program

From the HRC blog: Today’s vote by the Boy Scouts of America to allow gay, lesbian and bisexual adults to work and volunteer is a welcome step toward erasing a stain on this important organization,†said HRC President Chad Griffin. “But including an exemption for troops sponsored by religious organizations undermines and diminishes the historic nature of today's decision. Discrimination should have no place in the Boy Scouts, period.†“BSA officials should now demonstrate true leadership and begin the process of considering a full national policy of inclusion that does not allow discrimination against anyone because of who they are,†Griffin said. In 2013, HRC announced that beginning with its 2016 Corporate Equality Index, which rates Fortune 500 companies and the nation’s top law firms on LGBT-inclusive policies and practices, would penalize corporations that give money to organizations that discriminate against the LGBT community. Companies from Walt Disney to UPS have led the charge to prevent money from flowing from corporate coffers to organizations that actively discriminate against the LGBT community. http://www.hrc.org/blog/entry/as-boy-scouts-of-america-takes-historic-step-local-exemptions-will-allow-di

Whether the TLUSA Lawyer is biased or not, it doesn't change this reality from the NYT article I posted in the other thread (http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/07/27/us/boy-scouts-expected-to-end-ban-on-gay-leaders.html?_r=0): “It’s a great day for America and for scouting,†David Boies, a prominent lawyer, said of Monday’s expected decision. His firm helped create pressure for change, threatening to sue the Boy Scouts if the organization tried to bar a gay Eagle Scout from a camp job this summer in New York. But Mr. Boies added: “I think this will be a way station on the road to full equality,†and he questioned whether the exemption for religious sponsors could endure." I believe now that the SJWs have the BSA in full retreat they'll only keep pushing. This will remain ugly for years to come.

FWIW from the NYT "But Mr. Boies added: “I think this will be a way station on the road to full equality,†and he questioned whether the exemption for religious sponsors could endure." The article describes him as "David Boies, a prominent lawyer, said of Monday’s expected decision. His firm helped create pressure for change, threatening to sue the Boy Scouts if the organization tried to bar a gay Eagle Scout from a camp job this summer in New York. " http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/07/27/us/boy-scouts-expected-to-end-ban-on-gay-leaders.html

Not to mention extracurricular groups like NHS, church youth groups, confirmation classes, 4H, minor criminals, etc.

You could be right. But, it also says the BSA will only indemnify "bona fide religious chartered organizations." Then there's this piece from the "Why This is Right for Scouting" section: "This change also respects the right of religious chartered organizations to choose adult volunteer leaders whose beliefs are consistent with their own. It is important to note that the 2013 youth membership policy is not affected by this resolution and remains unchanged." And FAQ question 10: 10. If passed, does my religious organization have to allow gay leaders? As has always been the case, religious institutions select their leaders. Religious organizations may do so according to their faith-based beliefs, regardless of this policy change. Maybe 12 should have been 11 and they would make more sense together? I'm not a professional wordsmith but apparently neither are the people who wrote this PDF.