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Committee will help Scouts find new camp, Northrup says

Scouts Canada officials in the Grand Falls area are looking for a new location for their camp after the area they've used for the past 50 years has been clear cut.

Natural Resources Minister Bruce Northrup says a committee will be set up in the new year to work with Scouts Canada officials in the Grand Falls area after the Crown land they used as a camp was clear cut.

Northrup says no rules were broken when the nearly 54 hectares in Drummond Parish were recently harvested, but he understands the Scouts' concerns and wants to help.

"As a Queens Scout myself, many many years ago, I remember going out in the woods and camping, building your own fire, tying reef knots and bowline knots — and I remember that like it was yesterday. So I have a lot of respect for Boy Scouts and as government we are going to work together as a group," he said.

Northrup met with Scouts officials and forestry industry representatives on Wednesday to discuss what can be done to replace the camp that has been used to teach children about nature and wildlife for the past 50 years.

"There were a lot of things that were discussed today. Nothing to confirm or anything like that. We are going to take all their considerations and go back and get back to as a group and work together," he said.

But one option includes a lot just down the road that was harvested by the licensee in 2002, Northrup said.

"What we want to do is turn that into a positive and work with the licensee and work with the Scouts as an educational tool," he said.

"Maybe this spring, next summer, we can plant trees around that area so you can see how the forest grows."

Last week, Scoutmaster Jean-Guy Levesque told CBC News he was shocked to learn the camp had been clear cut. He said he was given no warnings.

The Scouts pay the provincial government for an annual lease and have put a lot of into repairs over the years, he had said.

Acadian Timber, which holds the local forestry management licence, has apologized.

"I saw compassion with them," said Paul Guimond, a non-active member of the regional Scout association.

"I did not see it [earlier] but today I felt that they had compassion and they were sorry that they did it," he said.

About 50 Scouts, Cubs and Beavers used the camp.