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MONTREAL - Scouts Canada says it has accepted an offer to sell a historic camp site north of Montreal that first opened more than 110 years ago.

The organization announced Thursday it has sold Tamaracouta Scout Reserve to entrepreneur Eric Desroches, in partnership with the Nature Conservancy of Canada and the town of Mille-Isles, Que. 

The organization says the new owner will preserve over 80 per cent of the land for conservation, while opening a part to the public.

The camp closed in 2019 after what Scouts Canada called years of successive financial hardship and looming costly repairs. 

The president of a citizens' group that has fought to preserve the site says there were concerns that the property would be sold to a developer and that its wilderness would be degraded.

Karine Peloffy says she's cautiously optimistic about the sale but is looking for concrete proof that the new owner will preserve the land and maintain access for young people.

Scouts Canada described the property in 2024 as the oldest operating Scout camp in the world. 

This report by ´ºÉ«Ö±²¥was first published July 18, 2025.