Utah National Parks Council
The Utah National Parks Council (UNPC) is a former local council of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) that served youth in areas of Utah who live south of Salt Lake County and in some isolated areas of Nevada and Arizona. It was headquartered in Orem. As of December 31, 2013, UNPC was the largest of 272 local councils and is geographically within the Western Region of BSA. In 2011, the UNPC was recognized by the Utah Best of State Foundation as Utah's Best Humanitarian Organization. UNPC is a non-profit corporation governed by Scouting policies and a local community-based Executive Board. In April 2020, it combined with the former Great Salt Lake and Trapper Trails councils to create the new Crossroads of the West Council.
Former headquarters of the Utah National Parks Council in Orem, Utah, February 2017
Entrance to Camp Jeremiah Johnson in Hobble Creek Canyon, June 2016
Wood Badge (Boy Scouts of America)
Wood Badge in the United States is an advanced level leadership training available to adult Scout leaders. The first Wood Badge course was presented in England by the founder of Scouting, Baden-Powell, and he introduced the program into the United States during a visit in 1936. The first course was held at the Mortimer L. Schiff Scout Reservation, but Americans did not fully adopt Wood Badge until 1948. The National BSA Council staff provided direct leadership to the program through 1958, when the increased demand encouraged them to permit local councils to deliver the training.
Wood Badge beads, woggle and neckerchief
1962 Wood Badge staff meeting on the Monterey Peninsula. Front row, L-R Joe McConnell, Alex Szaszy, Tiz Urbani, Bela Banathy; Back row, L-R Joe St. Clair, William "Bill" Sutcliffe, Bob Bowman, Tom Moore. Flipchart says: "What are we here for? Create, Think, Help, Learn, BECOME"
Joe St. Clair, Fran Peterson, Maury Tripp, and Béla H. Bánáthy at the White Stag Leadership Development Program Indaba held at Fort Ord, California, during November 1968. St. Clair, Peterson, and Bánáthy led Course #25-2 over four weekends in January and February 1968 at Fort Ord, one of six experimental Wood Badge courses held nationwide.
Wood badge regalia