Advocates hope to stop sale of Boy Scout camp to developer

Conservationists in Connecticut are hoping a last-minute deal can be reached to protect a sprawling 252-acre camp owned by a regional council of Boy Scouts. They want to prevent the picturesque property that's been a summer destination for generations of families from being sold to a private developer.

The Trust for Public Land, a nonprofit land conservation organization, has offered the Connecticut Yankee Council of Boy Scouts $2.4 million, the assessed value of the Deer Lake Scout Reservation in Killingworth. But the group's bid is currently well below that of the developer, who has offered nearly twice that amount, according to advocacy groups.

The looming sale of the camp comes as the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware begins a trial this week to determine whether to confirm the reorganization plan for the Boy Scouts of America, which sought bankruptcy protection more than two years ago amid an onslaught of child sex allegations.

While the Connecticut Yankee Council of Boy Scouts set a March 31 deadline to accept “superior offers to the one currently being pursued," they're being urged by residents and environmentalists, as well as Democratic U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, to keep working with the conservation group. A separate local organization is also raising money to protect the property.

“Their whole mission is rooted in the outdoors and rooted in the protection of natural resources. And so for them to make decisions that basically are in complete opposition to that organizational value, I think is really hard to understand,” said David Anderson, land campaigns manger for Save the Sound, of the Boy Scouts. He said keeping the property undeveloped is crucial to combatting climate change.

Blumenthal said he remains hopeful an agreement can be reached to protect the property from development. The Connecticut...