In case you have not yet heard – a fire at the Ute Park Ranch has thus far consumed 36,000 acres as as of yesterday June 5 was 25% contained. No residences have been lost in the fire but over a dozen Philmont buildings in the center of the ranch were burned as of late last week.
This is the post from the Philmont website on Monday June 4, 6PM EST:
“The safety of our youth participants, volunteers and staff is a priority for everybody at Philmont Scout Ranch and the Boy Scouts of America. While efforts continue to extinguish the fire currently burning in the back-country, the anticipated damage and inability to access the affected areas makes it currently impossible to host back country programs. Until the fire is extinguished, the areas are inspected and the damage assessed, it is impossible to definitively state when those programs will resume.
At this time, we have made the difficult decision to cancel all back country treks that were scheduled to take place in the Philmont back country from June 8 – July 14, 2018. We hope that back country treks may resume after July 14, 2018 with altered itineraries, assuming the back country is safe and infrastructure is restored.
Additionally, programs scheduled to take place at Philmont Training Center will also be canceled through June 23, 2018. The Philmont Training Center expects to welcome back participants beginning with Philmont Family Adventure on June 24, 2018.
The NAYLE program, which takes place at Rayado Ridge Leadership Camp seven miles south of the Philmont Base Camp and is unaffected by the Ute Park Fire, will go on as scheduled.
Over the next few days, we will be contacting the lead advisor or contingent leader of all crews that are impacted by this decision, starting with those that are scheduled to arrive first, as well as affected PTC coordinators. Thank you in advance for allowing the Philmont team to contact your crew – your assistance will help make sure that Philmont phone lines remain open.
We will continue to work with local, state and federal authorities to continuously evaluate the fire and air quality to ensure that we can safely deliver outstanding program.
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