Scouts disassembling radio tower for recycling. Courtesy/NPS
NPS News:
On a recent Saturday morning, members of Los Alamos Boy Scout Troop 22 removed a radio tower on the mesa top along N.M. 4 near the Bandelier National Monument entrance.
Due to improvements in the Bandelier radio system, the antenna had become obsolete, and was one more 21st-century object that no longer had to clutter up the scenery. It was 70 feet tall and had been installed securely, with concrete around its base and strong guy wires to resist wind; this combination presented an ideal challenge for Nick Greenfield when he went looking for an Eagle Scout project.
Greenfield has been in the Scouting program since Tiger Cubs in first grade, continuing with Cub Scout Pack 326 at Pinon Elementary School, and finally Troop 22. For any Scout, working toward Eagle Scout takes years of work, and a critical part is organizing and leading a project.
For Greenfield, planning this project took several months. including getting approval from district Scout leadership and working out details the Bandelier staff. Sam Gardner, a local man experienced in construction, volunteered as technical advisor, helping Greenfield plan the work and provisions for doing it safely.
Greenfield, his parents, Gardner, and more than 15 Scouts and parents showed up on project day. In the group were one Scout with Eagle rank, one working on the rank, and younger Scouts getting started on it. With help from Gardner and a member of the monument’s maintenance division, the Scouts chipped away the concrete base and rigged ropes to guide the tall tower as it fell.
With all participants at a safe distance, the tower was lowered, landing in the chosen location. Then everyone pitched in to separate it into sections and load the sections into a trailer to be recycled.
“Nick and the whole crew are fine young people. They provided a real service to the park by helping us meet another goal in reducing modern intrusions on this timeless landscape,“ said Bandelier Superintendent Jason Lott, who has been involved in Scouting and participated in the project. “More Scouts are planning Eagle projects here at Bandelier, and we really look forward to working with them, and others who might be interested.”
Scouts preparing radio tower to be removed at Bandelier National Monument. Courtesy/NPS
