Camping has been a core value of the Girl Scout Movement since Juliette Gordon Low gathered 18 girls in Savannah, Ga., to create the first troop on March 12, 1912. At the movement’s apex after World War II, there was almost a religious zeal by the national organization to ensure that every Girl Scout Council would own a camp.

The fervor of the movement until the mid-1960s created hundreds of camps and scout houses throughout the country. Most of these sites remained part of the movement as the national organization led a series of council consolidations from over 1,300 councils to 370 by the mid-1970s. Additional mergers beginning in the 1990s consolidated the total number of councils to 330 by 2005.

For the past three years, the Girl Scouts of the USA has embarked on the most ambitious realignment of any youth service agency in history. By the end of 2009, there will be 109 councils serving every square mile of the country. A key tenet of the realignment is that property will not be dealt with until two years after the new council has been established. Therefore, the impact is just starting to reveal itself, as the councils formed in 2007 are beginning to assess their property situation.