A Scout camp in Marlborough Township has been made available for sale. The owner of Camp Delmont is asking for $3.9 million, according to the Jenkintown real estate agent handing the listing.

            "This is not a typical sale for me," said Chuck Bolger, of Quinn & Wilson REALTORS. The listing showed up Monday morning on the company's website. Cradle of Liberty, Council Boy Scouts of America is looking to sell the 730-acre property, located at 5505 Upper Ridge Road.

            Bolger described the property as a rustic Boy Scout camp with infrastructure and buildings that have been in existence for a long time. He called it a classic piece of camp property, at a nice location, that could be utilized for passive recreation.

            "It has a lot to offer to the right buyer," Bolger said.

            The entire property is protected in perpetuity from development through a conservation easement with Natural Lands, a non-profit organization that saves open space, cares for nature, and connects people to the outdoors in eastern Pennsylvania and southern New Jersey. Natural Lands does not have final say over the sale of the camp, founded in 2016, said Mae Axelrod, a spokesperson for the organization.

            The property is currently zoned E - Exempt Clubs & Fraternal Organizations.

            Montgomery County listed the appraised value at $4.608 million.

            Bolger noted the easement will likely limit the number of potential purchasers. In October 2000, the Natural Lands reached an agreement with the Liberty Council to preserve the 1,197-acre Musser Scout Reservation – located between Upper Ridge and Swamp Creek roads, and accounts for approximately 25 percent of the township's land – which also encompasses Camp Garrison, opened in 2000, and Camp Hart, founded in 1930.

            A former Marlborough supervisor estimated that the purchase of development rights would cost approximately $3.4 million. He said the easement would be paid over several years utilizing a combination of federal, state and private money.

            Last year, the township's board of supervisors voted to support a grant application that would have allowed the Bureau of Forestry, an agency within the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, to acquire Camp Delmont. The proposal stems from a national bankruptcy settlement, related to sexual abuse charges against the Boy Scouts of America, that required the organization to put several assets, including land, into a trust for sale.

            During an April 6, 2022 meeting, Todd Sampsell, the vice president for conservation services for the trust, estimated that the process of transferring the property could take one to two years once the trust is set up.

            Natural Lands is currently working towards a conservation solution with the Boy Scouts and will be seeking DCNR grant support Axelrod wrote in an email message received Tuesday. She added that its officials are optimistic about the outcome.

            Scouts will continue to utilize the property, even if it is sold, according to Paul Decker, a district commissioner with the Continental District, an organization that serves the Scouting needs of the Pottstown, Pottsgrove, Boyertown and Upper Perkiomen school districts. He said the status quo will continue.

            "Nothing is going to change," said Decker.

            Most of the Scout groups – including Troop 108 from East Greenville, Troop 90 from Pennsburg and Troop 79 from Palm as well as Cub Scout Pack 170, chartered by St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Red Hill, and Pack 244, based at the New Goshenhoppen United Church of Christ in East Greenville – utilize Camp Delmont to varying degrees, according to Decker. Troop 90 last camped at Camp Hart in 2022 and Camp Delmont in 2021.