Norfolk Land Trust pursues purchase of Grantville Road property

By Colleen Gundlach

A 1957 newspaper clipping reported that the Bridgeport Area Girl Scout Old Timers Association sponsored a benefit card party to raise money “toward buying several acres of land for the new Girl Scout camp, Iwakta, at Norfolk,” to add to the small tract that had been donated to the organization the previous year.  Now the Girl Scouts of Connecticut is contemplating the sale of a large chunk of this property, perhaps to the Norfolk Land Trust.

Located near Grantville Road, Camp Iwakta (pronounced ee-wah-kee-tah) is accessed via an unobtrusive, narrow passageway through the trees, mostly unnoticed by passersby. Those who take the time to walk in, however, are surprised to find a small group of buildings and beautiful woodlands and wetlands. 

According to Sharon Bellinger, Director of Communications, Public Relations and Marketing for the Girl Scouts of Connecticut, the camp grew over the years as “multiple pieces of land eventually came together,” and then, in 1958, the Bridgeport group built a resident camp there, functioning as such until 1979, when it became a troop camping facility. The buildings, consisting of the winterized Carmella Lodge, and Adirondack buildings are still in existence and still host groups of scouts.

“Outdoor education is a critical part of the Girl Scout program,” says Bellinger. “We stress caring for the land and earth.” The Norfolk camp, which currently covers roughly 390 of the 2,500 acres owned throughout the state by the Connecticut group, have provided camping, hiking and other outdoor activities for many years.

“The property is amazingly beautiful,” says Libby Borden, president of the Norfolk Land Trust, which is in the midst of discussions with the Girl Scout council concerning a possible purchase of a large portion of Camp Iwakta land for preservation.  According to the Trust, the group would like to conserve the back 311 acres because it is at the center of “a contiguous wilderness corridor totaling more than 1,500 acres.”

The property in question is north of the Mad River up through the locale known as Pine Mountain, west of Flagg Hill.  This area, combined with nearby land already in conservancy with the Connecticut River Watershed Council and the Nature Conservancy, would be a link to begin to connect these pieces of terra firma in trust together.

An estimated total of $630,000 will be needed to purchase the block of property, though the actual purchase price is still under negotiation.  Government grants, if obtained, could cover about seventy percent of the cost, leaving $189,000 to be raised from contributions.

Borden emphasizes that, in this case, the proposed purchase of the scout camp by the Land Trust would not take anything off of the tax rolls.  Since the camp is already in non-profit status with the Girl Scouts, it would continue to be non-profit, and thus tax-exempt.

For more information on the camp or the Land Trust acquisition project, contact Dennis Collins at 860-542-5744.