His heart's in it: Student is documenting Scouting's biggest-ever conservation project

BOONE

When Robert Mason is in the library at Appalachian State University, he might be studying for class or he might be sorting through 80,000 digital photos and 100 hours of video compiled during a Boy Scout-related project that he hopes will leave a legacy for the future.

Mason, 20, an Eagle Scout and a junior double major in political science and history, is working on a book and assisting on a U.S. Forest Service documentary about ArrowCorps5, a large service project to improve five Forest Service sites this past summer.

About 5,000 members of the Order of the Arrow, the honor society of the Boy Scouts of America, donated more than 250,000 hours of service. They made $5 million in improvements over five weeks doing such things as removing invasive plants, building trails and improving campsites.

Mason developed the idea to document ArrowCorps5, the Order of the Arrow's largest-ever conservation project. He was there all five weeks, leading others who were taking photos and video and writing journals, while also carrying a camera himself.

He snapped photos of President Bush and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger presenting an award to some Scouts, and posed for his own photo in front of Air Force One. He shot 60 straight sunrises and sunsets. He hiked and interviewed people who were hacking out trails and moving rocks, while also taking time out to go mountain biking and whitewater rafting.

"It definitely changed me this summer," Mason said. "It was a mountaintop experience like none other."

His friends in college know him as Robert, but he's still Bobby Mason to his friends at his hometown Boy Scout Troop 747, sponsored by Winston-Salem's Wesley United Methodist Church.

"If there's anybody out there who puts any more into it than Bobby, I can't imagine it," said Troop 747 Scoutmaster Patrick Kelly. He said that Mason epitomizes an Eagle Scout as much as any kid who ever came through the program. Mason remains a junior assistant scoutmaster for the troop.

A year ago, when planning was under way for the Order of the Arrow service project, Mason developed a proposal to document the summer. Once national leaders approved his documentation project, he spent three weekends doing practice runs, working out logistics of getting gear from place to place, practicing photography and interview skills.

Just before the project started, he met documentarian Ken Burns, who is well known for his public-television productions, at an event in Charlotte and asked him for advice.

"He was saying in my efforts to make sure I'm committed and above all having fun, then you'll know you're doing good documentation," Mason said. "You have to have your heart in it."

He threw his heart into the project at such sites as Mark Twain National Forest in Missouri; Manti-La Sal National Forest in Utah; George Washington and Jefferson National Forest in Virginia; Shasta-Trinity National Forest in California; and Bridger-Teton National Forest in Wyoming. He also spent two weeks at the Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico. He kept up his Web site, www.trailmanbob.wordpress.com, and posted videos on YouTube. He left on May 23 and got home on Aug. 18.

When he returned home, he set up an office in his parents' Winston-Salem basement, a repository for more than 400 journals and about 5,000 documents including schedules and graphs.

Portable hard drives and his laptop computer allow him to access the digital photos and other information at school. He works at least 10 hours a week on the project while he's at ASU. Some days he takes his laptop out to the Blue Ridge Parkway. Other days he'll be working on it in a study room at the campus library or in his dorm room.

In addition to the book and documentary, Mason is working on an exhibit that will be seen by an expected 8,000 people at the 2009 national conference of the Order of the Arrow. He'll also prepare an exhibit for the National Jamboree in 2010 when about 40,000 Scouts are expected as they celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Boy Scouts of America.

Mason enjoys football games at ASU, is an avid outdoorsman, a student leader in clubs, a member of a pre-law fraternity and a history buff who thinks he'd like to teach history.

"This has really opened up my eyes to my future in history," he said. "To me, it was an incredible blessing they accepted this and let me run with an idea…. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."

■ Monte Mitchell can be reached in Wilkesboro at 336-667-5691 or at mmitchell@wsjournal.com.