Becoming an Eagle Scout, the highest rank of Boy Scouts, is a rank few achieve. Stapleton resident Bryce Bauer, 15, guesses about 5 percent of America’s population are Eagle Scouts.

Bryce Bauer sits on the bridge he designed and built at Bluff Lake Nature Center. Photo courtesy of Eva Bauer.

The young men have to go through multiple ranks in Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts to become an Eagle. For their final ascent to Eagle, they must complete a service project for the community, excluding schools, Scouts, and religious and non-charitable organizations.

Bauer, who attends DSST Stapleton and is a member of Troop 62, recently became an Eagle Scout by completing a service project for the Bluff Lake Nature Center. With the intent of becoming an engineer, Bauer chose to design, plan and build a bike and footbridge, which is located down the main trail to the right. It took him two months to complete the project. Bauer is proud of the bridge, which will have a plaque in his honor.

Many Scouts do not reach Eagle rank, which Bauer thinks is because of negative or nerdy portrayals of Scouts. He refutes that image.

Each month the Scouts go on a camping trip. During his time in Scouts, Bauer has gone on canoe, backpacking and snow cave trips. His favorite was a canoe trip in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in Minnesota.

“I feel like I’ve become a better leader and learned a lot of life experiences like how to manage money and survive in the wild.”