Boy Scouts selling off storied camps under pressure from sex abuse claims, bankruptcy — and locals are worried

PHILADELPHIA — Camp Trexler drapes across 755 sylvan acres in the Poconos where, for a century, Boy Scouts have enjoyed swimming, making campfires and hiking.

But the forested land, complete with lake, is expected to soon go up for sale with zoning that could transform it into a housing development amid the rural hamlet of Jonas in Polk Township, Pennsylvania.

The camp's owner, the Minsi Trails Council of the Boy Scouts, is one of 250 local councils across the United States under pressure to pay toward a $2.5 billion national sex abuse settlement that led to the organization's bankruptcy.