The Morris Area Girl Scout Council had proposed plans
to completely revamp their existing camp adjacent to
Lewis Morris Park in Mendham Township. The new camp
would have required clearing 18 acres of forest on a
site restricted by the original donor’s easement that
required the land remain "wild and scenic."
The Girl Scouts’ beautiful 212-acre property is also
traversed by two category-1 streams (the highest water
quality), the Upper Passaic River and the Primrose
Brook. Both are headwaters of the Passaic River and feed
the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge. The Watershed
Association was opposed to the new camp.
However, in early 2002 the Morris Area Girl Scouts
Girl Scouts appointed a new Chief Executive Officer,
Helen Wronski, whose professional background includes
developing facilities for Y’s and Scouts in historic
neighborhoods. Upon taking her new position, she
immediately reached out to the National Park Service,
the Watershed Association and neighbors to begin a
dialogue about MAGSC’s needs, what the site can
sustain, and how to make sure that what is developed
meets as many of the groups’ objectives as possible.
She believes strongly that the Girl Scouts have an
overriding responsibility to be stewards for the
property’s unparalleled historic and natural resources
– and that whatever happens there must communicate
that vision to all Girl Scouts who visit.
Their new proposal is to concentrate the expanded
camp on the current site, enhance it and to build the
camp with a log cabin design. Under the trees, there
will be a new troop house and several small cabins, and
there will be a new swimming pool and an improved
activity field in the existing clearing. An
Environmental Center will be created and joint programs
will be offered with the National Park Service. For
instance, part of the horseback riding program for the
girls will take place in and around the Park’s horse
barn and field next to Wick House. New paving, parking
and roads have been reduced or eliminated and the number
of girls using the Camp at any one time during its
summer peek use has been reduced from 425 children and
staff to 350. The Camp will become truly functional year
round and will be used by many more girls than is
possible today, and the estimated cost of construction
has been cut in half.
There are still quite a few issues to be ironed out.
Water use, wastewater and stormwater management, how to
better traverse the wetlands that separate today’s
parking area from the campsite, and assurances that the
easement will never be broken in the future are examples
of concerns yet to be addressed.
Through the collaborative effort Helen is leading,
the integrity and values of this site would be preserved
while still permitting the Girl Scouts to upgrade their
experiences here. We are looking forward to being part
of this new partnership and hope its end result lives up
to the promise of its beginning.
