Girl Scouts play during an activity at Camp Redwing in Penn Township.

Camp Redwing will be downgrading its operations but will remain open despite the closing of other camps in the region.

The Girl Scouts of Western Pennsylvania plans to close five of its nine camps March 31 due to operating deficits.

The Girl Scouts recently reported that only 12 percent of the council's membership attended the camps. Keeping all nine camps resulted in the loss of about $1.4 million annually. The organization will sell the closed camps.

According to Pat Burkart, the organization's CEO, the county's own Camp Redwing in Penn Township will remain open, but with a few changes.

Resident camps, which are staff-led camps, will no longer be offered, but overnight stays are still possible. The camp's primary function will be for day camp, troop camping, service unit camp and weekend events.

Burkart said Redwing is still one of their more popular camps, and many of its visitors are staying overnight. She said removing resident camps optimizes the camp usage.

“Redwing has had the highest foot traffic,” she said. “It's ideal for troop and service camping.”

Burkart said the organization also will no longer have horse programs at Redwing — those will be moved to Camp Skymeadow. She said Skymeadow offers more expansion room for more horses and trails.

While it is losing its horses, Redwing will continue to offer the swimming, archery and other activities it previously offered. It also has Camp Creepy, a new annual event that drew more than 1,000 girls to Redwing this year, according to Burkart.