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04.06.17

Council Says No to Golf Course and Lease at Cape Lookout

The Boy Scouts of America's Cascade Pacific Council announced early in April that they no longer will be pursuing the golf course or long term lease, good news to scouters, campers and recreational users that appreciate this special headland's natural beauty. In the fall of 2015, the Council announced plans to scope the leasing of 200 acres of property for a golf course development just south of Cape Lookout and adjacent their Meriwether and Camp Clark facilities. Surfrider chapters joined up in a year and a half campaign effort of steady opposition, led by long-time scout leaders, recreational users and others opposed to the project.

The formal scoping and negotiations for the golf course lease at Cape Lookout have been going on for nearly 2 years now with the Council and developer Mike Keiser going back and forth over various land use and site compatibility issues. The site represents a very emotional and meaningful place to many scouts who had their first experiences on the Oregon coast at the Camp Meriwether facility. Steady opposition by scout leaders and Surfrider volunteers that find this place special and unique have gone from petitioning and internally organizing to scout troops across Oregon contacting donors to reconsider their contributions to BSA.

Cape Lookout is a special place, one that only the astute and adventurous surfer or other recreational user knows - another remote and magical Oregon coastal headland that deserves protection. 

Victory! On April 6, 2017, Cascade Pacific Council (CPC) announced their intentions to "not pursue a long-term lease nor build a golf course". Siting land constraints, we're thrilled that CPC has decided not to pursue this project, especially given the well-over 4,000 individuals that petitioned against the project, attended CPC public meetings and made legal challenges on the constraints for the development.