CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Hundreds of potential new jobs and thousands of additional travelers are expected for West Virginia once a new Boy Scout high adventure base is developed in Fayette County, state and project officials say.

The new facility could bring an additional 10,000 to 15,000 air passengers a year to Yeager Airport in Charleston, airport Director Rick Atkinson said Tuesday.

"We're very excited about it," Atkinson said. "It's not only good for the airport, but it's good for the state."

Rep. Nick Rahall said he would work to help with transportation access to the camp itself, which will be located on about 10,000 acres in the Glen Jean-Mount Hope area.

"It's still too much of a hike to get in and out of the area," Rahall, D-W.Va., said in a prepared statement. "We have to balance a multitude of factors to make this base a go. I am committed to working with everyone throughout the process."   

Job estimates were based on figures at the Philmont Scout Ranch and training center in New Mexico because the area's mountainous topography is similar to West Virginia's, said David LaValle, a spokesman for Boy Scouts of America.

That could mean about 80 year-round jobs and 1,000 seasonal staff positions, LaValle said, as well as an estimated potential $10 million annual boost to the local economy.

"If we took that model and dropped it into West Virginia, it would be similar," LaValle said of Philmont.

Philmont is about 4 miles from Cimarron, N.M., a 1-square-mile town with about 880 residents, Cimarron Chamber of Commerce Executive Secretary Carol Baker said.

"Without Philmont it would be hard for the town to survive," Baker said.

In addition to the approximately 1,000 staffers who come for training and camp activities in the summer, roughly 350 to 400 campers leave the trails at Philmont daily, and about half come to town and may eat or shop, Baker said, adding that Philmont has a bus service that runs all day.

The town gets some traffic in the winter from people passing through to get to area ski resorts, she said.

"But the scout ranch brings them into town," Baker said. "The scouts want to take a souvenir home. They always hit the food places when they get off the trail because they've been on trail food for 12 days," Baker said. "It does make a difference with them here. We have a couple local restaurants and stores here that are only open in the summer."

Philmont was established in 1938, according to a Web site for the base.

Boy Scouts of America has two other high-adventure bases: the Northern Tier National High Adventure Program in Ely, Minn., and the Florida National High Adventure Sea Base in Islamorada, Fla.

The organization also is studying plans to locate its national Scout Jamboree at Goshen Scout Reservation in Rockbridge County, Va.

National, West Virginia and local leaders, including the Fayette County Commission and the National Park Service, have worked with Boy Scouts of America on the proposed new high adventure camp.

ARROW WV, a nonprofit formed by the Boy Scouts, has agreed to buy the land from Meadow Creek Coal and submit a rezoning application to the county commission.

"We have tied a collaborative knot every scout would look upon with pride," Rahall said. "Southern West Virginia offers some of the wildest and most wonderful adventures even the most seasoned scout will not soon forget. As a result, this operation would provide southern West Virginians with excellent job opportunities."