We implore you to reconsider your decision to rest, close, and consider the sale/mining/leasing of Girl Scout Camp NOARK, located in Huntsville, Arkansas.

Camp NOARK has had a bumpy road these past fifteen years: with sections sold away, the camp closed to all Scouts for long periods of time, and a severe ice storm that nearly destroyed much of the camp, she has struggled. Most recently, a caretaker has left the property, and perhaps closing it seemed easiest to our board and council headquarters down in Little Rock. At this very point, however, she's become most useful to us once again, with her roads and trails cleared and her buildings in working order. Volunteers have worked hard to prepare her for use again, and she is. 

The Girl Scouts of Northwest Arkansas (formerly Noark Council) have a long and treasured history of gathering together and enjoying this property. With recent council usage records being iill kept and incomplete, it is impossible to prove our devotion, but rest assured: we love and use Camp Noark regularly. We are seeking information, and reassembling a record of recent usage to demonstrate that we do, in fact, need this facility to learn and play and adventure as troops and scouts in Northwest Arkansas.

Camp Noark has continued to be one of Diamonds' most scout-used and scout-rented properties in all the council, year after year. The Friendship House gives us air conditioned comfort; the dining hall and meadows, room for large group camps and events; and the nearly-new cabins at Enchanted Hollow and tents at Daisy Patch, the classic camp experience for troops and service units alike. Travel to other camps is prohibitive for many of us, and we cannot make many of the day camps and other activities across the council without considerable investment in hotel rooms or public campsites, which are less safe for our girls. Camp Noark, then, is essential to scouting in Northwest Arkansas.

There is so much we would love to do at Camp Noark, and without her, we fear that Girl Scouting in our region of the council will be severely stunted- both because of the difficulty of travel to other properties outside the Ozark Mountains, and because of the loss of spirit and confidence in the council as a vital tool and treasured memory maker is taken from us.  

Our trainers need a place to train us; our service units need a place where we can gather in larger groups; and our troops and girls need a place for inexpensive and safe troop outings and overnights.  We need this more than anything else the council can provide-- including the new NWA office.

With at least 145 troops and over 1000 Girl Scouts within a short driving distance of this property, an E. Fay Jones cabin, and its proximity to the NWA business corridor, it surely bears a closer look with the creativity and input of area Girl Scouts, who know the camp and the region so well.

Please invite us to the table to discuss ways that we can make Camp Noark and the northwest part of your council a living and growing part of Diamonds' future.