Designed By: Charles Wilkinson (Assistant Scoutmaster)

Troop 1188 sees the merit in clean streams

Boy Scout Troop 1188 in Manassas adopted Winter's Branch in 2001 and two years later created an Adopt-A-Stream Merit Badge to recognize scouts who help keep the local waterway litter-free. Scoutmaster Tim Hughes thinks DCR's Adopt-A-Stream Program is a great match for scouting, which stresses both community service and enjoyment of the natural world. "We tied in Adopt-A-Stream with Boy Scout requirements under environmental science. Then we went one step further and decided we could create our own badge for the boys who participate."

To earn the badge, scouts not only take part in stream clean-ups, they also study about watersheds and urban stormwater controls. Aspiring Eagle Scouts are required to earn an environmental science merit badge. According to Hughes, 10 to 15 scouts, mostly middle-schoolers, participate in the troop's biannual cleanups. "They love to splash in the stream and goof off; it's not all work… They're finding little minnows and every once in a while a crayfish. They see the ducks. All in an urban environment."

From: <http://www.dcr.virginia.gov/grassroots/index0705.shtml> Click on small patch for link.