FORESTRY
Merit Badge
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Mr. R.

"Good timber does not grow with ease, the stronger the wind, the stronger the trees..."

– Douglas Malloch 

 
Mr. R's Forestry Passport© (a 4"x5" pocket guide) is available in PDF format to print out for non-profit use (requires free Adobe Acrobat© Reader).  Passports are copyrighted, but scouts and troops may use them free of charge if they create only one per scout.  NO scout may be charged! BSA councils must first contact Mr. R. before creating large quantities for scout camps, merit badge fairs, etc.

 
Read one of my favorite poems
Good Timber by Douglas Malloch
(it really applies to leaders rearing young men)

 
Req
#1
Prepare a field notebook, make a collection, and identify 15 species of trees, wild shrubs, or vines in a local forested area. Write a description in which you identify and discuss the following:
a. The characteristics of leaf, twig, cone, or fruiting bodies. 
b. The habitat in which these trees, shrubs or vines are found. 
c. The important ways each tree, shrub, or vine is used by humans or wildlife and whether the species is native or was introduced to the area. If it is not native, explain whether it is considered invasive or potentially invasive.

 
Req
#2

Do ONE of the following:

a. Collect and identify wood samples of 10 species of trees. List several ways each species of wood can be used.

b. Find and examine three stumps, logs, or core samples that show variations in the growth rate of their ring patterns. In the field notebook you prepared for requirement 1, describe the location or origin of each example (including elevation, aspect, slope, and the position on the slope), and discuss possible reasons for the variations in growth rate. Photograph or sketch each example.

c. Find and examine two types of animal, insect, or damage on trees. In the field notebook you prepared for requirement 1, identify the damage, explain how the damage was caused, and describe the effects of the damage on the trees. Photograph or sketch each example.

 
Req
#3

Do the following: 
(part a) Describe contributions forests make to:

  • Our economy in the form of products 
  • Our social well-being, including recreation  
  • Soil protection and increased fertility
  • Clean water 
  • Clean air (carbon cycling, sequestration)  
  • Wildlife habitat
  • Fisheries habitat
  • Threatened and endangered species of plants and animals. 
(part b) Tell which watershed or other source your community relies on for its water supply. 
  • USFS  Recreation
  • GORP  Activities - List of many activities and web sites
  • EPA  What is a watershed?
  • EPA  Locate your watershed
  • USGS  Locate your watershed (click map)
NOTE: Forests provide activities such as walking, hiking and backpacking, fishing and hunting, wildlife viewing, cross-country and downhill skiing, and snowmobiling.

NOTE: The government argues that Canadian forests are able to remove and store large amounts of carbon dioxide — currently the main contributor to the greenhouse effect, which is blamed for global warming — and they breathe out oxygen.

http://temagami.carleton.ca/jmc/cnews/20102000/n4.htm

 
Req
#4

Describe what forest management means, including the following:

  • Multiple-use management
  • Sustainable forest management
  • Even-aged and uneven-aged management and silvicultural systems associated with each type. 
  • Intermediate cuttings.
  • The role of prescribed burning and related forest management practices.

 
Req
#5
With your parent's and counselor's approval, do ONE of the following:

a. Visit a managed public or private forest area with its manager or a forester familiar with it. Write a brief report describing the type of forest, the management objectives, and the forestry techniques used to achieve the objectives:

b. Take a trip to a logging operation or wood-using industrial plant and write a brief report describing:

  • The species and size of trees being harvested or used and the location of the harvest area or manufacturer. 
  • The origin of the forest or stands of trees being utilized (e.g., planted or natural).
  • The forest's successional stage. What is its future?
  • Where the trees are coming from (land ownership) or where they are going (type of mill or processing plant). 
  • The products that are made from the trees
  • How the products are made and used.
  • How waste materials from the logging operation or manufacturing plant are disposed of or utilized.

c. Take part in a forest-fire prevention campaign in cooperation with your local fire warden, state wildfire agency, forester, or counselor. Write a brief report describing the campaign, how it will help prevent wildfires, and your part in it.

  • USDA Forest Service  Click on desired state and desired forest to find the address of that Forest Service.
  • Utah Industrial  Lists logging operations in Utah
  • Check local lumber yards in your area

 
Req
#6

Do the following: 
a. Describe the consequences to forests that result from FIVE of the following elements: 

  • Wildfire
  • Absence of fire
  • Insects 
  • Tree diseases
  • Air pollution
  • Overgrazing
  • Deer or other wildlife overpopulation
  • Improper harvest
  • Urbanization

Bark Beetles
b. Explain what can be done to reduce the consequences you discussed in 6a. 
c. Describe what you should do if you discover a forest fire and how a professional firefighting crew might control it. Name your state or local wildfire control agency. 
  • USFS  Forest Pests in the Southern Region: Insects - Diseases
  
NOTE: If you discover a fire in the forest, including an unattended campfire, please call 911 as soon as possible.  Provide as much information as you can about the fire's location--road numbers, intersections, trail names, name of the nearest campground and distance to those location.  Drive carefully--firefighters may have already been notified and crews and equipment could be traveling to the fire on Forest roads. 
http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/inyo/passespermits/campfire.html

 
Req
#7
 
Visit one or more local foresters and write a brief report about the person (or persons). Or, write about a forester's occupation including the education, qualifications, career opportunities, and duties related to forestry. 
  • USDA Forest Service  Click on desired state and desired forest to find the address of that Forest Service.

Forestry Merit Badge
BSA Advancement ID#: 54
Pamphlet Revision Date: 2005
Requirements last updated in 2006
 

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Webpage updated December 2008
Webmaster, Mr. R.