Fellow Scouters,

Regarding the recent discussion on membership policies, the following statement has been released by our national organization:

For 103 years, the Boy Scouts of America has been a part of the fabric of this nation, providing its youth program of character development and values-based leadership training. In the past two weeks, Scouting has received an outpouring of feedback from the American public. It reinforces how deeply people care about Scouting and how passionate they are about the organization.

After careful consideration and extensive dialogue within the Scouting family, along with comments from those outside the organization, the volunteer officers of the Boy Scouts of America’s National Executive Board concluded that due to the complexity of this issue, the organization needs time for a more deliberate review of its membership policy.

To that end, the National Executive Board directed its committees to further engage representatives of Scouting’s membership and listen to their perspectives and concerns. This will assist the officers’ work on a resolution on membership standards. The approximately 1,400 voting members of the National Council will take action on the resolution at the National Annual Meeting in May 2013.

From my point of view, I will offer the following... The Hawk Mountain Council can't sacrifice its mission, or our youth served by the movement, by allowing the organization to be consumed by a single, divisive, and unresolved societal issue. Therefore, on behalf of our 8,000 young men and women in the Hawk Mountain Council, I ask you to remain focused on helping them be Prepared for Life.

Thank you for all that you do!   We will share more information as it becomes available.

Yours in Scouting,

Bill Garrett | Scout Executive & CEO