Requirement

1. Prepare a field notebook, and identify fifteen species

Required Often forgotten

A field notebook, a collection, and 15 species of trees, wild shrubs or vines identified in a local forested area, with a written description covering all three parts below. The notebook is a physical thing that two of requirement 2's three routes then write into.

Warning. THE FIELD NOTEBOOK IS AN OBJECT, NOT A FORMALITY, AND TWO OF REQUIREMENT 2'S THREE ROUTES WRITE INTO IT. Both 2(b) and 2(c) open with the same words: "In the field notebook you prepared for requirement 1". That means the notebook has to exist and be with you in the field before either can be started. Only 2(a), the wood samples route, is free of it. If you intend to do 2(b) or 2(c), finish requirement 1 properly first rather than treating the notebook as something to write up later.

What this is made of

1(a). The characteristics of leaf, twig, cone or fruiting bodies
1(b). The habitat each one is found in
1(c). How each is used, and whether it is native or introduced

Where this step comes from

Forestry Merit Badge Requirements (Merit Badge Hub, last modified 2026-01-27), Requirement 1

Notes and warnings

What this is made of

Where this step comes from