The Boy Scouts of America Bring Geocaching to the Scouting Experience

As the Boy Scouts of America march into the future, celebrating their 100th year anniversary this year they recently approved the Geocaching Merit Badge. Geocaching combines traditional scouting skills such as orienteering, hiking and navigation with modern technology, in an effort to keep scouting interesting and up-to-date.

The merit badge was originally approved as the GIS/GPS (Geographic Information System/Global Positioning System) merit badge in 2009 and was only recently changed and approved as the geocaching merit badge. This has caused some confusion and frustration among many scouts and leaders, with differing opinions on benefits of both badges.

The requirements for the merit badge were also the topic of leadership debate. The most revised version of the merit badge requirements are published on ScoutingNews.org. Scouts should not begin working on the merit badge until the official Geocaching Merit Badge Pamphlet is published.

Geocaching.com has enthusiastically adopted the program and has helped the BSA develop several programs to promote the new merit badge and celebrate the BSA's 100th year anniversary.

The Get in the Game! Program encompasses four geocaching activities that scouts and non-scouts can enjoy together to participate in the high-tech adventure game.

Pillars of Scouting
Each scout council has created five geocaching Travel Bugs-one for each pillar: Leadership, Service, Achievement, Character and Outdoors. Each of these Travel Bugs can be tracked on Geocaching.com. Players can try to catch these "moving targets" and track them as they move about the country.

The Cache to Eagle® Program
Every Eagle Scout is required to complete an Eagle Scout Service Project, a project that gives back to his community. This program celebrates these service projects by placing caches at past Eagle Service Projects showing younger scouts, leaders and non-scouts the projects Eagle Scouts have done in the past for their communities. Learn more about the Cache to Eagle® program at Geoscouting.org.

Treasures of Scouting
The Treasures of Scouting program celebrates and highlights scouts, leaders and programs in each council area. There are five cache topics. To find them in your area, search for "Treasures of Scouting" with your council name on the Geocaching.com search page.

Cache In Trash Out
Cache In Trash Out (CITO) is a community service project that has been part of Geocaching.com since 2002 and the Boy Scouts of America is no stranger to community service projects. Through the volunteer efforts of geocachers that are dedicated to cleaning up cache areas, Geocaching.com continues to help preserve our beautiful outdoor playground. The Boy Scouts of America is a teacher and supporter of the Leave No Trace philosophy, which goes hand-in-hand with CITO. To find the nearest CITO event to you, search Geocaching.com for CITO events or you can host your own CITO event.

The Boy Scouts of America has jumped into geocaching with "both feet" by introducing a new merit badge and combining many geocaching activities with the 100th year celebration. If you are an active geocacher and are interested in helping the Boy Scouts in your area learn more about geocaching or becoming a merit badge counselor, contact your local BSA council.