2010 National Jamboree

Greater Yosemite Council

This website is developed and maintained by volunteers of the Greater Yosemite Council 2010 National Jamboree Committee. Greater Yosemite Council is located in the Central Valley of California. The council serves the counties of Calaveras, Mariposa, Merced, San Joaquin, Stanislaus, and Tuolumne. Yosemite National Park is located within the boundaries of the council. Visit the official Greater Yosemite Council website www.yosemitescouting.org for additional information. 

Boy Scouts of America¹ 

The Boy Scouts of America (BSA) is the largest youth organization in the United States, with over five million members in its age-related divisions. Since its founding in 1910 as part of the international Scout Movement, more than 110 million Americans have been members of the BSA.

The BSA seeks to train youth in responsible citizenship, character development, and self-reliance through participation in a wide range of outdoor activities, educational programs, and, at older age levels, career-oriented programs in partnership with community organizations. Scouting values such as honesty, good citizenship, and outdoors skills are taught through a variety of activities such as camping, aquatics, and hiking.

The BSA is a constituent member of the World Organization of the Scout Movement. The traditional Scouting divisions are Cub Scouting for boys ages 7–10, Boy Scouting for boys ages 10–17 and Venturing for young men and women ages 14–21. Learning for Life is a non-traditional subsidiary that provides in-school and career education. The BSA operates traditional Scouting locally through units sponsored and operated by churches, clubs, civic associations, educational organizations and the like. Units are led entirely by volunteers who are supported by local councils using both paid professionals and volunteers.

Congressional Charter

The BSA was granted a Congressional charter in 1916, now codified as 36 U.S.C. Chapter 309, stating that their purpose is to:

promote, through organization, and cooperation with other agencies, the ability of boys to do things for themselves and others, to train them in scoutcraft, and to teach them patriotism, courage, self-reliance, and kindred virtues, using the methods that were in common use by boy scouts on June 15, 1916.

National Council

 The National Council is the corporate membership of the Boy Scouts of America and is administered by paid professional Scouters and volunteer Scouters.

Regions and Areas

Local Councils

The BSA program is administered through 308 local councils, with each council covering a geopolitical area that may vary from a single city to an entire state. Councils receive an annual charter from the National Council and are usually incorporated as a charitable organization.

Districts

Districts exists by authority of the local council and are represented on the council executive board by a district chairperson. All districts are responsible for four standard functions: membership, finance, program, and unit service. Greater Yosemite Council is divided into six districts: Big Valley, Chief Tenaya, El Capitan, Forty Niner, Waukeen, and Wawona.

Units

Units are the main operating group of the BSA. Units use different names for each membership level—Cub Scouts are organized as packs, Boy Scouts as troops, Varsity Scouts as teams, Venturers as crews, and Sea Scouts as ships.

Additional Information 

Visit the official Boy Scouts of America website <www.scouting.org/> for additional information.

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¹Boy Scouts of America. (2008, November 7). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 20:26, November 10, 2008, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Boy_Scouts_of_America&oldid=250340854

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