Wichita ? The local council of the Boy Scouts of America has proposed selling its oldest camp as part of a series of changes meant to save money and improve scouting programs.

The board of directors of the Quivira Council will vote on the proposed changes next month, including plans to sell the 177-acre Camp TaWaKoNi. The camp near Augusta needs substantial maintenance.

The plan also calls for selling the council’s Hutchinson Service Center, which needs repair and is not covering its cost of operation.

Under the changes proposed by the council’s executive committee, Camp Kanza, south of Hutchinson, would be the council’s only Cub Scout and Webelos camp. Quivira Scout Ranch, near Sedan, would be the council’s only Boy Scout and Venturing camp. Improvements would be made at those facilities and scouting programs there would be expanded.

“This proposal will enhance our Scouting program, provide much needed upgrade to our camps and, most importantly, provide a world-class camping and outdoor program,” Ronald Willett, the council’s chief executive, said Thursday in an e-mail to The Wichita Eagle.

If the proposals are adopted, council president Hal Dick said, they should generate an annual savings of more than $100,000. The property sales are expected to raise more than $300,000.

That money could be used to build better camps and streamline volunteer efforts that have been stretched thin to maintain three camps, Dick said.

But news of the plan to sell Camp TaWaKoNi has caused a stir in Wichita’s Scouting circles.

“I hate to see something like this happen after all these years,” said Ken Blankinship, Cub master of Pack No. 736 in northwest Wichita. “It’s always been there as a great facility close to Wichita.”