"Please join us in welcoming our newly merged Order of the Arrow lodge! This merger marks an exciting new chapter of brotherhood, cheerfulness, and service. We’re grateful to all the Arrowmen who helped make this transition possible. Here is the new lodge flap — wear it proudly!"
-High Desert Council Facebook page, 1/11/2026"The merger date was January 11, 2026 which was the day after our "Final Storm" Banquet. We discussed the Lodge having some type of number for documentation purposes and what a mess. National hasn't used Lodge numbers for a few years now and most of the new Lodges are using their Council number. In our case, the Council number 412 is already associated with Buckskin Lodge... the combining of Yah-Tah-Hey-Si-Kess 66 + 378 Gila = 444. This at least preserves some form of legacy. Our totem is the Coyote which is common to our area here in the Southwest."
-James Hewitt, New Frontier Lodge #444
Overland Trails Council has merged into Mid-America Council. The decision to unify councils expands Mid-America Council to cover 102 counties (66 in Nebraska, 35 in Iowa, and Union County in South Dakota). The names and boundaries of the former council's three districts were also kept. Special thanks to Bro. Andrew Kosmowski for forwarding this.As previously communicated, the Executive Board of Bay Area Council - Scouting America developed a sustainability committee and an exploratory committee focused on a path forward for the council. These committees concluded their work with a report that was presented to the Council Board on April 24th. During this Board meeting, a motion was presented with a passing vote for the formation of an exploratory committee to work toward the development of a plan of merger with the Sam Houston Area Council (SHAC).
The exploratory committee draft charter was presented at the June 18th [2025] Council Board meeting.
Due to some recent developments, the Council Board has elected not to pursue further exploratory committee work on a potential merger with Sam Houston Area Council. Currently, the Council Board has decided to focus efforts on addressing key sustainability issues within the Bay Area Council.
Council President, Cory Moss, has resigned from the Board. Therefore, the nominating committee will begin work immediately to identify a new Council President. The Board very much appreciates Cory’s leadership to position the council for the upcoming essential improvements that will need to occur.
The Council Board is committed to a bright future for scouting in the Brazoria and Galveston counties. To be clear, there is much work to be done to ensure the financial and operating stability of the council for the next few years and into the future. This will involve some key deliverables to improve the health of the council in multiple areas. The Council Board will work closely with our interim Scout Executive, René Monarez, on these improvement areas and we will need to show immediate improvement in multiple areas to remain viable.
The Sam Houston Area Council volunteer and professional leadership have been great partners throughout this process, and we appreciate their willingness to support whichever outcome was decided.
Though the Board will lead the efforts, it will require assistance from many volunteers in the council and benefactors in the community at large to be successful. Let’s all work together to grow scouting and to strengthen the Bay Area Council.
Yours in Scouting,| map pending |
On September 19th, it was announced that Crater Lake Council and Oregon Trail Council had both recently voted to approve a merger between the two councils. Leaders also discussed and proposed names for the new council.
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OA Section List Created: June 19, 1996 This page updated: webmaster@oasections.com |
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