Nov. 18--When Camp Miakonda was established in Sylvania Township nearly a century ago, it was in the middle of nowhere, miles from the edge of Toledo's densely settled core.
The trip from downtown Toledo was a two-hour drive on a very rough, dirt road -- "at least, according to legend," said Richard Fisher, the Scout executive with the Erie Shores Council, Boy Scouts of America.
But over the years, Toledo's suburbs have sprawled all around the site, officially part of the DeVilbiss Scout Reservation, and now the Erie Shores Council is investigating its options for granting a conservation easement to the Black Swamp Conservancy that would ensure that most of its 150 acres remain undeveloped.
Kevin Joyce, the conservancy's executive director, said Camp Miakonda is the largest undeveloped tract of the Oak Openings ecosystem, a sandy-soiled oak savanna that once covered large areas of western Lucas County. A conservation easement, he said, would ensure that except for seven acres to be kept available for the Boy Scouts' potential future building needs, the camp "would remain in natural condition in perpetuity."
Mr. Joyce spoke before the Sylvania Township trustees, whose endorsement he and Boy Scouts officials sought for an application for Clean Ohio funding to pay Erie Shores for the easement.
The trustees voted in favor of the idea, 2-0, with DeeDee Liedel abstaining without explanation.
"It's a real treasure," trustee Carol Contrada said of the camp, remarking that she, too, could recall when Miakonda was in a "really rural area."
Camp Miakonda is the sixth-oldest Boy Scout reservation in the United States. Along with hosting Boy Scout events, numerous other Toledo-area groups use the site for conferences and retreats, Mr. Fisher said.
Erie Shores is studying the conservation-easement idea not only for Miakonda but also for the 1,100-acre Pioneer Scout Reservation in Williams County, the Scout executive said. While Erie Shores is under no pressure to do anything with the properties, he said, Boy Scout councils elsewhere have sold off their camp properties, and Erie Shores' current leaders want to ensure that won't happen here.
Proceeds from a conservation easement could be used toward environmental improvements Erie Shores Council is considering for waterways on the Miakonda property.
Mr. Fisher said the agency may undertake erosion-control measures to counteract the effects of higher flow in the Ottawa River and other streams because of storm runoff from developed areas nearby.
At Lake Sawyer, a Great Depression-era Works Progress Administration project, the Boy Scouts are considering partial dredging to support boating activities, while working to convert the rest back into a wildlife-supporting wetland, he said.
Mr. Fisher had no estimate for how much money the Boy Scouts might qualify for in exchange for a conservation easement at Camp Miakonda, and said there is significant study and discussion pending before such action is taken, but "our goal is to have it taken care of in time for our 100th anniversary celebration" next year.
"We're trying to ensure that we're a great place to come to forever," he said.
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