Scouting and the Environment

Conservation, Stewardship and Education

William T. Hornaday Awards

BS World Conservation Award

National Outdoor Badges

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Environmental Programs and Awards

There are numerous environmental programs, achievements and awards throughout the Scouting programs beginning with Tiger Cubs. Most Cub Scout, Boy Scout and Venturing Leaders are familiar with the most common environmental programs and awards in the various levels of Scouting, such as Camping, Leave No Trace Principles, World Conservation Award, Forester and Outdoorsman Webelos activity badges and Boy Scout Nature and Environmental Science merit badges. There are many more environmental programs and awards that ALL scouts from Tiger Cubs to Venturing should be aware of.

Cub Scout Awards

Cub Scouts Outdoor Activity Award
Tiger Cubs, Wolf and Bear Cub Scouts, and Webelos Scouts have the opportunity to earn the Cub Scout Outdoor Activity Award. Boys may earn the award in each of the program years as long as the requirements are completed each year. This award recognizes the Cub Scout for taking part in outdoor recreation and conservation projects.

Cub Scouting Leave No Trace Awareness Award
Leave No Trace is a plan that helps people take better care of the environment and protect it for future generations. Tiger Cubs, Wolf and Bear Cub Scouts, and Webelos Scouts and their leaders may earn the Leave No Trace Awareness Award.

Cub Scout World Conservation Award
The World Conservation Award provides an opportunity for Wolf and Bear Cub Scouts, and Webelos Scouts to learn about our environment and how our activities impact not only the local community, but the whole world. This program is
designed to make Cub Scouts aware that all nations are closely related through natural resources and that we are interdependent with our world environment.

Each age group has specific requirements. Wolf Cub Scouts complete Wolf Achievement 7 and two electives and take part in a den or pack conservation project. Bear Cub Scouts complete Bear Achievement 5 and all projects in two electives, and take part in a den or pack conservation
project. Webelos Scouts earn three activity badges in addition to taking part in a den or pack conservation project.

William T. Hornaday Unit Award
The Hornaday Awards program encourages learning about natural resources, conservation, and the environment. Respecting the outdoors is an important part of Scouting. Scouts learn to understand and take care of natural resources and to protect the environment. A Cub Scout pack may earn this award by doing a big, special conservation project. More than half ofthe pack's members must take part. This award is granted through the Conservation Service of the BSA National Council. Packs must apply for the award through their local council.

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Boy Scout Awards

Boy Scouts Leave No Trace Achievement Award
Leave No Trace is a nationally recognized outdoor skills and ethics education program. The Boy Scouts of America is committed to this program. The principles of Leave No Trace are not rules; they are guidelines to follow at all times.

The Leave No Trace principles teach users of the outdoors, including scouts of all ages, to respect the environment and how to use the outdoors while minimizing impact on the land. Leave No Trace means traveling and camping with care, deliberately planning, and guiding one's actions so as not to harm the environment or disturb others.

Boy Scouts World Conservation Award
The World Conservation Award provides an opportunity for Boy Scouts to "think globally" and "act locally" to preserve and improve our environment. This program is designed to make Scouts aware that all nations are closely related through natural resources and that we are interdependent with our world environment.

Boy Scouts can earn the World Conservation Award by completing the Environmental Science and Citizenship in the World merit badges and either the Soil and water Conservation or Fish and Wildlife Management merit badge.

Boy Scouts William T. Hornaday Awards
William T. Hornaday awards are presented for distinguished service in
natural resource conservation for units, Scouts, Venturers, and Scouters.
Boy Scouts may earn the Hornaday Badge or the Hornaday Bronze or
Silver Medal. The Hornaday Awards are some of the rarest awards earned
by Boy Scouts and, not surprising, one of the hardest award to earn.

To be eligible for the Hornaday Badge, presented by the local council, a
Boy Scout must do the following:
1.      Earn First Class rank.
2.      Plan, lead, and carry out at least one environmental project comparable in size and scope to an Eagle Leadership Service Project.
3.      Complete any three of the required merit badges and complete two
additional merit badges from a specified list.

To be eligible for the Hornaday Bronze or Silver medal, granted by the
National Council, a Boy Scout must do the following:
1.      Earn First Class rank.
2.      For the bronze medal: Plan, lead, and carry out three environmental projects from three separate categories listed. For the silver medal: Plan, lead, and carry out four environmental projects from four separate categories listed.
3.      Earn the Environmental Science merit badge. For the bronze medal: Earn at least three more required merit badges, plus any two others listed. For the silver medal: Earn all six required merit badges and any other three.

Boy Scouts
Keep America Beautiful - Hometown U.S.A. Award
The Hometown USA. Award is ajoint program between Keep America Beautiful Inc. (KAB) and the Boy Scouts of America. It is designed to give recognition to the outstanding efforts of Scouts in their communities in regard to citizenship and environmental improvement.

KAB was founded in 1953 as a private organization with the purpose of building and sustaining a national cleanliness ethic. The Boy Scouts of America has been affiliated with KAB for more than thirty years as a member ofKAB's national advisory council, a program advisory body composed of more than eighty public service organizations and federal agencies. 

Keep America Beautiful Day, which began in 1971 as "Scouting Keep America Beautiful Day," was originally cosponsored by KAB and Boy Scouts of America as a massive national cleanup and recycling program. Millions of Scouts still turn out annually to participate in similar activities during what is now called Keep America Beautiful Week.

To earn the Hometown U.S.A. Patch, scouts earn three specific merit badges and conduct a community service project.

National Outdoor Badges
for Camping, Hiking, Aquatics, Riding and Adventure
Do you enjoy camping under the stars, rafting a whitewater river, or hitting the trail afoot, on a bike, or even on a horse? Can you pitch a tent, find your way, and bandage an ankle using only materials in your pack? Are you prepared to do any of these in rain, snow, sleet, or heat? If so, the National Outdoor Awards are for you. There is nothing virtual about these awards—you can earn them only by demonstrating knowledge and experience in the outdoors. So, if you are a Boy Scout or Varsity Scout and think you are tough and disciplined enough to hike or ride the miles, camp the nights, and run the rivers or lakes, then read on and see if the National Outdoor badges or possibly the National Medal for Outdoor Achievement could be for you!

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All Scouting Programs

Conservation Good Turn
The Conservation Good Turn is an opportunity for Cub Scout packs, Boy Scout troops, and Venturing crews to join with conservation and environmental organizations (federal, state, local, and private) to carry out a conservation Good Turn project in their home communities. These organizations typically have a backlog of necessary projects that they have been unable to carry out because of lack of funding or volunteers. The list of projects is limited only by the
willingness of the Scouting unit.

Locally, Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation Department, Mecklenburg County Land Use and Environmental Services Agency and the Charlotte Mecklenburg Storm water Services have need for volunteers to conduct service projects that range from adopting a stream and planting trees in flood plains to storm drain stenciling and picking up trash along green ways.