BSA Distinguished Conservation Service Award Program
Announcement and Description
On October 12, 2020, BSA announced that the William T.
Hornaday Award Program for distinguished service in natural resources conservation
had been DISCONTINUED.
The BSA Distinguished Conservation Service Award Program
was introduced to underscore the importance of encouraging everyone to participate
in environmental stewardship.
Announcement
For more than a century, the BSA has encouraged and honored conservation work
with an award that recognizes youth, adults and organizations who have demonstrated
tremendous effort and commitment to the environment. This award, which until now
had been known as the William T. Hornaday Award, is being discontinued, and the
new BSA Distinguished Conservation Service Award is being introduced to underscore
the importance of encouraging everyone to participate in environmental stewardship.
The new BSA Distinguished Conservation Service Award will continue to recognize
the conservation efforts of Scouts, Venturers, Sea Scouts, adult volunteers, and
other individuals, corporations, and institutions that contribute significantly
to natural resource conservation and environmental protection. It has been streamlined
and modernized to build on the extraordinary contributions made by all the dedicated
award recipients to date, and we believe the changes will help make these important
efforts even more accessible for today’s members.
The BSA continuously looks for opportunities to improve our programs and awards
as part of our efforts to strengthen the Scouting experience for all. As part of
the BSA’s commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion, we are in the process of
reviewing our programs, names of camps, awards and other aspects to ensure each
component models our commitment because there is no place for racism or discrimination–
not in Scouting and not in our communities. As we reviewed the William T. Hornaday
Award, the BSA uncovered issues with Dr. Hornaday that go against the BSA’s values,
and we determined that, given this information, the conservation award should no
longer bear his name in order to uphold our commitment against racism and discrimination.
Effective immediately, the Boy Scouts of America is transitioning conservation
recognition to the new BSA Distinguished Conservation Service Award. The change
in the award going forward does not in any way diminish the impactful conservation
efforts taken on by Scouts, volunteers, and organizations over many years as part
of the previous awards program. Their efforts have made important and positive differences
in their communities and remain among the proudest bodies of work in Scouting.
For those who have earned a Hornaday award prior to this change, the legacy award
can now be referred to as the BSA Distinguished Conservation Service Award. Although
we are unable to replace medals or badges earned by previous award recipients, replacement
certificates can be requested.
For those that have submitted or are currently working on a Hornaday award or
project, the new award program outlines a path to transition to the BSA Distinguished
Conservation Service Award. Bronze or Silver award distinctions will be used temporarily
for individuals whose efforts were already submitted or underway under the previous
award program.
For all others, the BSA Distinguished Conservation Service Award will stand on
its own as the organization’s highest award for conservation and environmental service.
Program Details
Introduction
Conservation and the Boy Scouts of America have been partners for a long time.
Camping, hiking, and respect for the outdoors are a part of the Scouting heritage.
Many of the requirements for advancement from Tenderfoot through the Eagle Scout
rank call for an increasing awareness and understanding of the natural sciences.
Many former Scouts have become leaders in conserving our environment and protecting
it from abuse. Right now. Scouts are involved in learning about environmental problems
and actively working to make a difference.
The fundamental purpose of the BSA Distinguished Conservation Service Awards
program is to encourage learning by the participants and to increase public awareness
about natural resource conservation. Understanding and practicing sound stewardship
of natural resources and environmental protection strengthens Scouting's emphasis
on respecting the outdoors. The goal of this awards program is to encourage and
recognize truly outstanding efforts undertaken by Scouting units, Scouts and Venturers,
adult Scouters, and other individuals, corporations, and institutions that have
contributed significantly to natural resource conservation and environmental protection.
BSA Distinguished Conservation Service Award Individual awards are granted by
the National Council through the local Council's Conservation Committee to a member
of a Scouts BSA, Sea Scout, or Venturing unit for exceptional and distinguished
service to conservation and environmental improvement.
The BSA Distinguished Conservation Service Awards are presented for distinguished
service in natural resource conservation. The award is given in one of three forms.
The awards are:
- Youth: BSA Distinguished Conservation Service Award
- Adult: BSA Distinguished Conservationist
- Organizations and Individuals: BSA Distinguished Conservation Service Award
Certificate
Temporary awards were developed for Scouts that were working on the William
T Hornaday Bronze or Silver Awards and had already completed at least 2 service
projects and had started on the 3rd or 4th projects by October 13,2020. If the Scout
met these requirements they had until June 30,2021 to complete the following
awards. After those dates the awards were retired and are not available to be earned.
The Temporary awards were identified as:
- BSA Distinguished Conservation Service Award Bronze Honor
- BSA Distinguished Conservation Service Award Silver Honor
The award, the most distinguished in Scouting for exceptional conservation service,
will be awarded for clearly outstanding efforts in planning, leadership, execution
of plans, involvement of others, and opportunities taken to help others learn about
natural resource conservation and environmental improvement.
The award includes the BSA Distinguished Conservation Service Award certificate
and an embroidered square knot.
Conservation Service Projects
The BSA Distinguished Conservation Service Awards program encourages and recognizes
Scouts, Sea Scouts and Venturers who design, lead, and carry out conservation projects
that are based on sound scientific principles and practices. The projects should
contribute to sound conservation and environmental improvement in the local community,
the region, or the nation. The applicant is expected to research potential projects
and to choose, with guidance from a conservation adviser, a worthy project.
Because the awards are individual awards, two or more individuals cannot claim
credit for the same project. However, a project may be a part of a larger conservation
effort, with different applicants carrying out different aspects of the same project.
An Eagle Scout leadership service project may be used as a conservation project
if it meets the aims and objectives of the awards program as listed below. pplicants
are encouraged to involve their unit members in project work and demonstrate Scout
leadership.
To assist the applicant with the documentation needed in completing the service
projects, and the documentation of the completed projects, the BSA Distinguished
Conservation Service Award Project Workbook has been developed and is required to
be used by the applicant.
What Qualifies as a BSA Distinguished Conservation Service Award Project?
First and foremost, the project must be a conservation project—it must be designed
to address a conservation issue or need in the local area, and it must benefit the
environment or the creatures that live there. Making an area more accessible for
people is rarely for the benefit of the environment.
How big a project should be and how long it should last are commonly asked questions.
Collecting aluminum cans over a weekend along with many other Scouts is a fine
public service, but since little learning took place and there was no lasting impact
on the community, the project would not qualify towards this Award. Similarly, a
simple, one-time tree planting effort would not qualify.
However, a reforestation project in cooperation with a professional forester
or park planner, learning which trees are appropriate to the area, ensuring proper
spacing for best growth, following proper planting methods, and caring for the trees
after planting might well qualify. Starting a community-wide recycling project and
encouraging people to recycle might also qualify. Size of the project is not necessarily
the important element. Rather, the results, the learning that took place, the applicant's
demonstrated leadership, and the significance of the contribution to the community,
park, or other lands are what count.
Required Projects
Applicants for the BSA Distinguished Conservation Service Award must plan, lead,
and carry out at least two significant projects in two different categories. One
project could be the applicant's Eagle Scout leadership service project, if it is
suitable, and one could be performed on BSA property. The others must benefit a
school, community, or religious organization, or fulfill some other public service
purpose. Applications are reviewed and awarded through the Council's Conservation
Committee.
The categories are listed below. They are designed, in part, to make conservation
awards available to Scouts living in suburban and urban eas as well as those in
rural settings, and to acknowledge the growing interest among Scouts and their leaders
in actively improving the natural environment within their own communities. These
categories also focus on the relationship between environmental abuses in urban
centers and their impact in relatively unpopulated, some-times distant, areas.
Projects Categories
- Energy conservation
- Soil and water conservation
- Fish and wildlife management
- Forestry and range management
- Air and water pollution control
- Resource recovery (recycling)
- Hazardous materials disposal and management
- Invasive species control
Other Ideas
Other good ideas for projects may be found in the publications and pamphlets
of groups such as the National Audubon Society, the National Wildlife Federation,
or governmental agencies including the Environmental Protection Agency, USDA Forest
Service, Army Corps of Engineers, Bureau of Land Management, Natural Resources Conservation
Service, Fish and Wildlife Service, National Park Service, state natural resource
conservation agencies, and your state cooperative extension service. The best way
to identify a project is to discuss the options with a conservation adviser.
Monitoring
Each project should be designed in part to publicize the need to conserve natural
resources and to improve environmental conditions.
The council is encouraged to provide guidance and to identify qualified advisers.
The role of the conservation adviser is to guide the young erson into selecting
significant conservation projects and to coach the youth into preparing, researching,
consulting others, designing, planning, and giving leadership to others in carrying
out the projects. The adviser must approve the application, indicating that the
applicant's activities have been monitored and ensuring that the projects meet local
needs. he applicant's unit leader must also approve the conservation project.
Requirements
* NOTE:
The BSA Distinguished Conservation Service Bronze and Silver Honors replaced the
William T Hornaday Bronze and Silver Medals which were retired on October 12, 2020.
These options were made available for those that had already started
work on the third or fourth project for the William T. Hornaday Bronze or Silver
Medal by October 13, 2020 and had to be completed by June 30, 2021.
Page updated on:
May 25, 2022
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