| Golden Empire Council (#047) | |
| Type: | council |
| Owner: | Boy Scouts of America |
| Headquarters: | Sacramento, California |
| Country: | United States |
| F-Date: | 1920 |
| Chiefscouttitle: | President |
| Chiefscouttitle2: | Council Commissioner |
| Chiefscouttitle3: | Scout Executive |
| Website: | gec-bsa.org |
The Golden Empire Council (GEC-BSA) is a California-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit affiliated with the Boy Scouts of America and its Western Region, Area 4. The council serves a large section of Northern California, primarily the Sacramento Valley and the northern Sierra Nevada. Its boundaries range north to south from Redding to Elk Grove and west to east from Vacaville to Pollock Pines and include 16 Northern California Counties (listed below) . Its council headquarters and service center is located in Sacramento. The council also operates two Scout Shops selling BSA merchandise; located in Sacramento and Chico.[1]
The Golden Empire Council serves over 6,000 youth members as of 2021.
The Golden Empire Council was founded in 1920 as the Sacramento Council. The council changed its name to the Sacramento Area Council in 1933, and to Golden Empire in 1937. In 1927, the Kit Carson Council (#46), founded in 1924, merged into the council. In 1971, the Tahoe Area Council (#648), founded in 1924, merged into the council. In 1992, the Mount Lassen Area Council (#036) and Buttes Area Council, both founded in 1924, merged into the council. The Mount Lassen Area Council had absorbed the Mount Shasta Area Council (#037), founded in 1923, in 1926.
GEC is organized into 7 separate districts that cover its 16 different counties, supported by a professional District Executive and volunteer leadership.[2]
GEC owns and operates four camp properties: Camp Winton, Camp Lassen, Camp Robert L. Cole, and the NorCal Adventure Area.[3]