Boy Scouts of America
WEST MICHIGAN BOY SCOUTS TO PILOT HUNTING BADGE OF MERIT

Gerald R. Ford Council of the Boy Scouts of America has developed a Hunting Badge of Merit, which could lead to a national Boy Scout Hunting Merit Badge.

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich., January 2004 - The Boy Scouts of America (BSA) have long been known for developing citizenship, character and community service in our country's youth and in 2004 the Gerald R. Ford Council of the BSA will take that one step further. The local council has built upon many existing activities and awards in order to create a pilot program for a Hunting Badge of Merit, which has the potential to become a national Boy Scout Hunting Merit Badge.

Two years in the making, volunteers and the Scout executive from the Gerald R. Ford Council have developed a stringent and challenging program that teaches Scouts about hunting through the study of wildlife, wildlife conservation, hunting safety and hunting history. The Badge of Merit incorporates everything to create a responsible and ethical hunter short of pulling the trigger or releasing an arrow.

"Our hope is that this pilot program will one day become a national Boy Scout Merit Badge," said Michael D. Sulgrove, Scout executive of the Gerald R. Ford Council, BSA. "We'd like to see 200 to 400 Scouts earn this badge over the next two years."

The results of the pilot program will be presented to the BSA National advancement committee for review and consideration. Should the National organization approve the program developed in Grand Rapids, millions of Scouts across the nation could gain the opportunity to learn about the role of ethical hunting and conservation by earning a Hunting Merit Badge.

"We've created this program to build upon the moral values that Scouting teaches youth," said Alan Taylor, member of the board of directors for the Gerald R. Ford Council, BSA, and a key architect of the Hunting Badge of Merit. "We teach these boys about the role of hunting in wildlife management and conservation all without firing a shot. Should these boys choose to go on and become active hunters they will have the knowledge, discipline and ethics ingrained in them to be responsible hunters while respecting the animals and the ecological system."

Boy Scouts of America
Michael Sulgrove
3213 Walker Ave., N.W.
Grand Rapids, MI 49544-9775
(616) 785-2662 - (888) 272-4732
Fax (616) 785-0835

The same key to victory in this fight: This is happening only in Michigan, not nationwide.

Anthony Marr, founder
Heal Our Planet Earth (HOPE)
www.HOPE-CARE.org