Wildland Fire Management Merit Badge

1. The history of wildland fire in the United States Requirement

Its suppression, prevention and management, researched and discussed with your counselor.

2. The harm wildfire does, with three years of acres burned Often forgotten Requirement

Annual acres burned for the past three years, and the damage to forest products, fish and wildlife habitat, soil and water, recreation, homes and communities, and air quality and public health.

3. Prescribed fire as a management tool Requirement

How it is used for fuel reduction, habitat enhancement, ecosystem restoration, forest regeneration, and insect and disease control.

4. Wildfire prevention and mitigation Requirement

Two discussions with your counselor: preventing wildfires, and protecting homes and communities from them.

2 parts

• 4(a). Prevention: the main causes, and preventing human-caused fires
• 4(b). Mitigation: the wildland-urban interface and defensible space

5. Fire behavior Requirement

The fire environment, the fire triangle, and a diagram of the parts of a wildfire.

3 parts

• 5(a). How weather, topography and fuel shape fire behavior
• 5(b). Suppressing a fire by removing heat, fuel or oxygen
• 5(c). Draw a diagram of the parts of a wildfire Often forgotten

6. Wildland firefighter safety Requirement

Protective equipment, and the rules firefighters work by.

2 parts

• 6(a). Personal protective equipment and its use
• 6(b). The 10 Standard Firefighting Orders, the 18 Watch Out Situations, and LCES

7. Wildfire suppression tactics Requirement

A tabletop demonstration of six tactics, and the Incident Command System. Either may be done alone or with a team.

2 parts

• 7(a). Demonstrate six suppression tactics with tokens on a diagram or map
• 7(b). Diagram the Incident Command System and explain its staff roles

8. Wildfire suppression tools Often forgotten Requirement

Three hand tools in use, a fireline built with one of them, and seven more tools or apparatus discussed.

2 parts

• 8(a). Use three wildland fire hand tools, and build a fireline with one Often forgotten This is a demonstration with real tools, including building a fireline, and the hardest thing on the badge to arrange. You need access to three tools unique to wildland fire suppression and to ground where digging is allowed. Settle where and when with your counselor early, and do it under their supervision.
• 8(b). Seven other tools, equipment or apparatus, and how each is used

9. Taking action. Do ONE Often forgotten Requirement

The badge states the choice: a readiness plan, a forestry official, a Firewise assessment and project, a prevention message, or fire weather.

Every route here needs a place or a person, so choose early. 9(b), 9(d) and 9(e) each need a meeting with a professional; 9(a) needs a wildland area you know; 9(c) needs a building in the wildland-urban interface and is three pieces of work, an assessment, a counselor-approved project and a written report.

5 parts

• 9(a). Write a fire readiness plan for a wildland area you know Optional May not apply
• 9(b). Visit a state or federal forestry official or your fire warden Optional May not apply Often forgotten
• 9(c). A Firewise assessment, a counselor-approved project, and a report Optional May not apply Often forgotten
• 9(d). Meet a fire prevention specialist, then make a prevention message Optional May not apply Often forgotten
• 9(e). Meet a meteorologist about fire weather Optional May not apply Often forgotten

10. A historic catastrophic wildland fire Requirement

What led to it, how it was managed, how it could have been prevented, and what it changed. Discussed with your counselor and/or your troop or another approved group.

11. One career in wildland fire management Requirement

Training and education, costs, job prospects, salary, duties and advancement. An interview or a visit needs your parent or guardian's permission.

Counselor signs it off Milestone

The completion date is the date you met the requirements, not the date of the signature.

Usually comes after 1. The history of wildland fire in the United States, 2. The harm wildfire does, with three years of acres burned and 9 others.

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.