Eagle Scout creates monarch butterfly habitat at Keystone State Park visitor center

Monarch butterflies are not the only ones spreading their wings at Keystone State Park this summer.

On Saturday, Delmont’s Albany Slentz unveiled her Eagle Scout project, a butterfly viewing habitat at Kell Visitor Center in the Derry Township park.

Slentz, 14, is the youngest female Eagle Scout from the Westmoreland-Fayette Council. She is only the third female scout from the area to attain Eagle Scout rank.

Slentz was one of the first girls to take part in Scouts BSA when she joined Harrison City’s Troop 236 in 2019, according to her mother, Lisa Slentz. In January, Albany Slentz transferred to Troop 1211. Since then, she has frequently taken on leadership roles, Scoutmaster MaryAnn Fabian said.

“At first, Troop 236 and very few others were the only ones who supported her being a female in a traditionally all-male organization,” Lisa Slentz said.

Her project features a five-foot-high mobile exhibit of the life cycle of monarch butterflies, park Environmental Education Specialist Jean H. Keene said.

Slentz, whose family are longtime voluteers at the park, approached Keene with the idea for her project.

The parallels between the butterfly’s life cycle and Albany’s journey into leadership in the scouts is not lost on Keene. Keene said monarchs are “unique for their adaptations and characteristics,” much like Albany Slentz.

“One local lumberyard even refused to accept her request for donations for her Eagle project because they didn’t support females in Scouts BSA. They wouldn’t even take the letter from her,” Lisa Slentz said. “She kept going and found places like Busy Beaver in Irwin and 84 Lumber in Greensburg that gave her everything she needed.”

Lisa Slentz said her daughter persevered through these challenges and has opened the door for other girls to succeed at the highest levels of Scouts BSA.

“She has shown the most follow-through of any scout I’ve ever worked with,” Keene said. “She’s a great example for all scouts.”

Keene said she was delighted to work with Albany and encourages efforts like hers to “spark a passion for the environment at any age.”

“We are beyond thrilled with her success and achievements,” Lisa Slentz said. “She is an amazing person and someone other young girls can look up to. To say we are proud would be an understatement.”