Fish and Wildlife Management Merit Badge
Eight requirements drawn so the very different costs inside requirement 5 and requirement 7 are visible at the point where the choice is made rather than after it.
9 steps (11 parts inside them). 11 parts depend on questions you have not answered yet. · Version 1, published 13 August 2026 · About Fish and Wildlife Management Merit Badge
No questions answered
This is the whole plan: everything that could apply to anybody. Answering the 3 questions at the address above takes out the parts that are not for you.
Which of this applies to you
You have not answered anything yet, so this is the whole plan: everything that could apply to anybody. Answering 3 short questions will take out the parts that are not for you.
The steps
Stage 1 of 9
1 step
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1. What fish and wildlife conservation and management mean Requirement
The meaning and the purposes, which are two things. Nothing gates this, so it is available from the first day.
Stage 2 of 9
1 step
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2. Three major threats to your state's fish and wildlife Requirement
At least three, listed and discussed. Your state's resources specifically, which makes this local research rather than general reading.
Stage 3 of 9
1 step
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3. How everyone can help with conservation Requirement
Some ways, described. The shortest requirement on the badge.
Stage 4 of 9
1 step
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4. Five management practices used in your state Requirement
Listed and described, and used by managers in your state. Your state wildlife agency is the source for this, and it is the same agency that publishes what requirement 6(b) needs.
Stage 5 of 9
1 step
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5. Choose one management project, and check how long it takes Often forgotten Requirement
Four routes, running from two weeks to a whole nesting season. One of them is tied to the calendar rather than to effort.
THESE FOUR OPTIONS ARE NOT THE SAME LENGTH AND NOTHING ON THE PAGE SAYS SO. Nest boxes need written records FOR ONE NESTING SEASON. Bird feeders need written records DAILY OVER TWO WEEKS. They are printed one after the other as (a) and (b), they are the same shape of task, and one is roughly ten times the other. The nest box option is also the only thing on this badge tied to the calendar rather than to effort: boxes put up in late summer have nothing to record until the following spring. Read all four before choosing, and if the timing matters, 5(b) can start any week of the year.
4 parts
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5(a). Two nest boxes, records for a whole nesting season Optional May not apply Often forgotten THE CALENDAR DECIDES THIS ONE, NOT YOU. Records are kept for one nesting season, so the boxes have to be up before nesting starts and the records run until it ends. Erect them in late summer or autumn and there is nothing to write down until spring. If you are working to a deadline, check when your local species nest before choosing this option.
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Stage 6 of 9
1 step
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6. Choose one: observe, research your state, or build a scrapbook Requirement
Three routes that are different in kind rather than in length. Only one of them has a countable size, and it is the largest job here.
3 parts
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6(c). A scrapbook of North American fish and wildlife: 25 articles Optional May not apply Often forgotten THIS IS TWENTY-FIVE ARTICLES, AND IT READS LIKE ONE LINE. Five each on mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and fish, with the book divided by markers into those five parts, each animal on a separate sheet, in alphabetical order, with pictures wherever possible. It is much the largest single job in requirement 6 and sits beside two much shorter routes. Internet sources are allowed with your parent or guardian's permission, which makes gathering them easier but does not reduce the count.
Stage 7 of 9
1 step
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7. Choose one fisheries task, from an afternoon to sixty days Often forgotten Requirement
Four routes. One of them states in its own words that you do not need to catch any fish; another runs for sixty days and carries a legal check.
FROM AN AFTERNOON TO SIXTY DAYS, AGAIN WITH NOTHING TO MARK THE DIFFERENCE. Examining the stomach contents of three fish is one session. Running a freshwater aquarium is sixty days of observation before the discussion can even happen. Requirement 7(c) also removes the obvious barrier to itself in its own words: IT IS NOT NECESSARY TO CATCH ANY FISH FOR THIS OPTION. Three fish from a kitchen, a market or somebody else's catch will do.
4 parts
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7(d). A freshwater aquarium, sixty days of observation Optional May not apply Often forgotten DO THE LEGAL CHECK AND THE DISPOSAL CONVERSATION ON DAY ONE, NOT DAY SIXTY. The requirement says: before completing it, check local laws on releasing these organisms back into the wild, and follow your counselor's direction in disposing of them humanely and safely. In many states returning aquarium organisms to the wild is restricted or illegal even where they were collected, because of disease and invasive species rules. You will have kept eight living things for two months by then. Find out what happens to them at the end before you begin.
Stage 8 of 9
1 step
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8. Three careers, then one researched in full Requirement
Identify three career opportunities using the skills and knowledge of fish and wildlife professionals, then research one properly: training, education, certification, experience and expenses, then prospects, starting salary, advancement and career goals. No hobby alternative on this badge.
Stage 9 of 9
1 step
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Counselor signs it off Milestone
The completion date is the date you met the requirements, not the date of the signature.
Usually comes after 8. Three careers, then one researched in full.
Merit badge requirements are republished annually. A Scout beginning work uses the requirements as they stand then; a Scout already working may finish under the ones they started with. Guide to Advancement 7.0.4.3 governs which applies. This page records the date its copy was read. Check it against the official page before relying on it.
This plan is a planning aid: the current Boy Scouts of America publication is always the authority, and the sources used here are listed in full. Each step names its own.