Scouts talk Bones, Bottles and BLM with Bob

Bob King, BLM Alaska state archaeologist and paleontology lead, is a soft-spoken, even-keeled man whose words are often so thoughtful and deliberate that they can sometimes seem as if he’s teaching a college course. His passion for history and archaeology gives him an endlessly deep affection for anything old, including rusty tin cans, broken bottles, and even old dishes. He’s also an avid fan of all things that get young people outside and enjoying public lands, especially Scouts.

Bob has a soft place in his heart for Scouts because they had a place for him. His father passed away when he was a toddler, and he found the Boy Scouts was a great source of the male mentorship he needed.

“The Scouts and Scouting Movement was a wonderful way to connect with adult men in a very positive way – father figures, as you would see them,” Bob recounted. “It was also helpful learning outdoor skills, so I’ve always been a strong supporter of the Scouts.”

As an adult, Bob has attended every national Scout jamboree since 1997, and this year he attended the 24th World Scout Jamboree at the Summit Bechtel Reserve in West Virginia this year. The event was held at a purpose-built facility on a reclaimed strip mine that has several artificial lakes on premises, a 13-mile border with the New River Gorge National River, and access to an additional 70,000 acres of managed wilderness beyond the facility grounds.

But Bob wasn’t there for the camping, canoeing, black smithing, tomahawk throwing, or paddle boarding. He was there to catch the Scouts’ attention with cool stuff like dinosaur fossils, a 100-year-old Coke bottle, and a typewriter ribbon came from the 1940s (and yes, to teach them about archaeology and paleontology). To Bob’s delight, the Scouts loved it.

“For me it was most gratifying to see many scouts fascinated to learn about archaeology and paleontology in a fun way,” explained Bob. “I brought over 40 pounds of ‘show and tell’ artifacts to amusingly illustrate some of the principles archaeologists use in analyzing artifacts and dating some archaeological sites.”

This was a global event, so Bob and the other Department of the Interior representatives reached well beyond the public they normally meet. This jamboree comprised 45,000 youth from 169 nations, including the United Kingdom, Sweden, Czech Republic, Taiwan, Korea, Mauritus, and three scouts from Madagascar.

“It was most interesting to talk to so many young people from different countries who were all enjoying the excitement and camaraderie of the event,” Bob said. “I had special fun talking to Scouts from my ancestral home near Middelburg in southwestern Netherlands.”

The Department of the Interior (DOI) tent, included booths from the BLM, National Park Service, Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Reclamation, and Office of Surface Mining (and covered topics ranging from dam safety and security to surveying and engineering). The Scouts who visited it earned a specially designed Scout patch featuring the DOI buffalo insignia blended into the traditional Scout fleur-de-lis. Because of the efforts of Bob and his fellow DOI representatives, the buffalo and sunrise design familiar to U.S. citizens will now be proudly displayed on the uniforms of Scouts world-wide.