Fish and Wildlife Management

Fish and Wildlife Management merit badge requirements

1. Describe the meaning and purposes of fish and wildlife conservation and management.
2. List and discuss at least three major problems that continue to threaten your state's fish and wildlife resources.
3. Describe some practical ways in which everyone can help with the fish and wildlife effort.
4. List and describe five major fish and wildlife management practices used by managers in your state.
5. Do ONE of the following:

   a. Construct, erect, and check regularly at least two artificial nest boxes (wood duck, bluebird, squirrel, etc.) and keep written records for one nesting season.

   b. Construct, erect, and check regularly bird feeders and keep written records of the kinds of birds visiting the feeders.

   c. Develop and implement a fishery improvement project or a backyard wildlife habitat improvement project. Share the results with your counselor.

   d. Design and construct a wildlife blind near a game trail, water hole, salt lick, bird feeder, or birdbath and take good photographs or make sketches from the blind of any combination of 10 wild birds, mammals, reptiles, or amphibians.

6. Do ONE of the following:

   a. Observe and record 25 species of wildlife. Your list may include mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish. Write down when and where each animal was seen.

   b. List the wildlife species in your state that are classified as endangered, threatened, exotic, non-native, game species, furbearers, or migratory game birds. Discuss with your counselor management practices in place or being developed for at least three of these species.

   c. Start a scrapbook of North American fish and wildlife. Insert markers to divide the book into separate parts for mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish. Collect articles on such subjects as life histories, habitat, behavior, and feeding habits on all of the five categories and place them in your notebook accordingly. Articles and pictures may be taken from newspapers or science, nature and outdoor magazines; or from other sources including the Internet (with your parent's permission). Enter at least five articles on mammals, five on birds, five on reptiles, five on amphibians, and five on fish. Put each animal on a separate sheet in alphabetical order. Include pictures whenever possible.

7. Do ONE of the following:

   a. Determine the age of five species of fish from scale samples or identify various age classes of one species in a lake and report the results.

   b. Conduct a creel census on a small lake to estimate catch per unit effort.

   c. Examine the stomach contents of three fish and record the findings. It is not necessary to catch any fish for this option. You may (must) visit a cleaning station set up for fishermen or find another, similar alternative.

   d. Make a freshwater aquarium. Include at least four species of native plants and four species of animal life, such as whirligig beetles, freshwater shrimp, tadpoles, water snails, and golden shiners. After 60 days or observation, discuss with your counselor the life cycles, food chains, and management needs you have recognized. After completing requirement 7d to your counselor's satisfaction, with your counselor's assistance, check local laws to determine what you should do with the specimens you have collected.

8. Using resources found at the library and in periodicals, books, and the internet (with your parent’s permission), learn about three different positions held by fisheries and/or wildlife professionals. Find out the education and training requirements for each position.

NOTE: The last sentence of requirement 7c has read "You may visit ..." in the merit badge pamphlet, and "You must visit ..." in Boy Scout Requirements since it was added in 2004.

The official source for the information shown in this article or section is: Boy Scout Requirements, 2014 Edition (BSA Supply SKU #637685)

A FREE workbook for Fish and Wildlife Management is available here! with the maps, charts, links, diagrams, and checklists you need! Or click here to print just the Fish and Wildlife Management requirements.

meritbadge.org has PDF and DOC versions of Boy Scout merit badge workbooks, Webelos workbooks, and Cub Scout workbooks.

• Per the BSA: "You should read the merit badge pamphlet on the subject." Pamphlets (books) are at local Scout Shops and online at ScoutStuff.org.
• "Get a signed Merit Badge application from your Scoutmaster." An online, printable Word doc file version is available.

• Boy Scout Merit Badges: Bird Study - Environmental Science - Fish and Wildlife Management - Forestry - Gardening - Geology - Insect Study - Mammal Study - Nature - Oceanography - Plant Science - Reptile and Amphibian Study - Soil and Water Conservation - Sustainability
• Boy Scout awards: Conservation Good Turn Award - Outdoor Ethics Awareness Award - William T. Hornaday award - World Conservation Award
• Venturing: Ranger Award electives: Ecology - Plants and Wildlife; Awards: Conservation Good Turn Award - Outdoor Ethics Awareness Award - William T. Hornaday award - World Conservation Award
• World Conservation Award
• Wolf Scout
  • Paws on the Path, Grow Something, Requirements 1 and 2 from Spirit of the Water
• Bear Scout
  • Fur, Feathers, and Ferns, Bear Goes Fishing, Critter Care, Requirement 3 from Baloo the Builder
• Webelos Scouts (Including Webelos II's earning the Arrow of Light award)
  • Building a Better World, Into the Wild, Into the Woods, Earth Rocks, Adventures in Science
• Cub Scout awards: Conservation Good Turn Award - World Conservation Award

• An Introduction to Merit Badges – how to get started, who chooses the counselor, etc.
• Merit Badge Worksheets & Requirements – with the revision dates, diagrams, charts, checklists, logs, and links you need.
• Merit Badge Application – offers online resources to let you print "Blue Cards," etc.
• Merit Badge FAQ – answers dozens of questions like: Who can be a counselor? Can requirements be added or removed?
• Merit Badges Requiring Prior Approval – Certain requirements need prior approval. Most do not. Here is the list.
• Also see: List of how many boys have earned each Merit Badge – Merit Badge policies – Merit badges required for the Eagle Scout rank – Merit Badge Days
• Additionally: List of Merit Badges by Field of Study – Merit Badge Pamphlets & Libraries
• Merit Badge Counselors must complete Youth Protection Training, file an Adult Application (and Merit Badge Counselor Information Form); and be approved by the local council. (See the Guide for Merit Badge Counselors for additional details.)