Our History
In February of 1910, the Boy Scouts of America was founded in Washington, D.C. Only a few months later, two separate groups met to establish Boy Scout councils in Minnesota: one in Minneapolis and one in St. Paul.
On July 1st of 2005, those two councils, Viking and Indianhead, merged to form today's Northern Star Council, one of the largest in the country. The council includes communities reaching from the South Dakota border to the communities of Ellsworth and Roberts, Wisconsin.
On December 1st of 2024, Voyageurs Area Council ceased operations and Northern Star Scouting assumed responsibility for a five-county territory of the former Voyageurs Area Council territory that included the Minnesota Counties of Pine, Carlton, Saint Louis, Lake, and Cook.
Northern Star Scouting's headquarters is at our Base Camp facility in Fort Snelling, MN.
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Northern Star Scouting Today
Our council is led by volunteers and supported by staff. The top position is our council president, who leads our 60 member board of directors and is selected through a nominating committee process and elected to serve a two-year term. The president and board hire the Scout Executive, who guides and manages our council employees. Rounding out our top leadership team is the council commissioner, appointed by the board, who directs the volunteers that work directly with leaders of Scouting groups to help them succeed.
Meet our top council leadership:
To effectively administer Scouting, our council is divided into 15 geographic districts along school district boundaries. Each has a volunteer district commissioner who directs the unit commissioners and a membership chair and committee, all supported by a district executive - a staff member serving the assigned territory.
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