A Scout is helpful - and more

Nathan Rau, a 16-year-old Eagle Scout in the Boy Scouts of America, Troop 60 in Bend, is a young man to reckon with.

Becoming an Eagle Scout is not easy. Succeeding in life isn’t easy, either. To achieve either one of them, you have to work at it. Nathan and his crew recently put up more than 70 nesting boxes on the Land Trust’s Metolius Preserve — which was hard work!

The trail to Eagle Scout rank is straight as an arrow. For Nate it began over eight years ago when he joined the Cub Scouts run through the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in the Bend First Ward.

Nate, now eight years later, has the opportunity to become a member of that elite group of men the likes of John Glenn — Eagle Scout, fighter pilot, senator, and the first man to orbit the Earth and come back alive.

In order to meet the qualifications for Eagle Scout a guy has to have a minimum of 21 merit badges; Nathan Rau has 30-plus.

Obtaining merit badges isn’t easy.

Nathan says he had a tough time qualifying for “Citizenship in the Community.”

He visited courtrooms, talked to judges, wrote letters to the school board, senators, and congressmen, about how to save money and make the system work smoother.

He said the easiest merit badge he got was “Basket Weaving,” where he made baskets out of straw. In addition, “Photography” was not only effortless and enjoyable, but “cool” as well.

Merit badges are also tools that give a Scout the opportunity to look at skills that will be helpful in time to come, and may even open the door to a life career.

Every element of Scouting is set up to bring the best out of a human being. Look at the Boy Scout Oath (or Promise):

“On my honor I will do my best; To do my duty to God and my country and to obey the Scout Law; To help other people at all times; To keep myself physically strong, mentally awake and morally straight.”

The first three elements in the 12 Scout Laws states that a Scout must be:

1. Trustworthy — A Scout tells the truth. He keeps his promises. Honesty is part of his code of conduct. People can depend on him.

2. Loyal — A Scout is true to his family, Scout leaders, friends, school and nation.

3. Helpful — A Scout is concerned about other people.

He does things willingly for others without pay or reward.

There are sundry young men in the world today who unfortunately scoff at Scouting; to many, it isn’t “cool.”

Too bad; they’re missing out on one of the most important elements in society that can help them to become better people than they think they are.

Nathan had to put a great deal of effort into that third part of the Scout Law and organize a community project to become an Eagle Scout.

That’s how we became acquainted. He called me about doing a nesting box project similar to what I have done with other Eagle Scouts in the past.

I’ve wanted to conduct a “Gleaner” study for some time, which entails placing nesting boxes in the forest for small birds that “glean” insects from trees.

Nuthatches, chickadees, and others of their ilk are insect-eating cavity nesters, and as such are essential elements in the elusive goal of “Forest Health” therefore Nate’s desire to get involved hit the nail on the head.

Nathan asked Home Depot to donate plywood and screws and then put a crew together to assemble nesting boxes at my place after I had cut out all the parts on my table saw. When we were done, we had over 70 boxes ready, ranging in size for nuthatches to small owls.

The Deschutes Basin Land Trust joined in the effort, and on a cold day last December Nate organized six adults, seven young people and three vehicles who descended on the Metolius Persevere to place those 70-plus nesting boxes up.

This coming spring and summer Nate and his crew will monitor the boxes and study what impact these nesting birds may have on the Preserve forests and adjacent USFS areas.