Fish and Wildlife Management Merit Badge History

Earned through 2020718,006

Best year199317,388 earned

All-time popularity#51official, as of 2020#51by 2025 (estimate)

Earned by Year

First earned in 1972. Peak year 1993 with 17,388. Hover over or tap a year for its numbers.

19726,146 earned#65 of 124

197312,917 earned#42 of 122

197416,895 earned#43 of 121

197517,299 earned#42 of 128

197616,247 earned#43 of 130

197715,130 earned#41 of 130

197813,017 earned#42 of 131

197912,832 earned#36 of 132

19809,715 earned#34 of 132

198113,227 earned#36 of 134

1982No data available

1983No data available

1984No data available

1985No data available

1986No data available

1987No data available

1988No data available

1989No data available

1990No data available

1991No data available

1992No data available

199317,388 earned#30 of 123

1994No data available

1995No data available

199616,945 earned#35 of 134

1997No data available

1998No data available

1999No data available

200017,230 earned#38 of 128

200115,425 earned#40 of 129

200216,273 earned#41 of 129

200316,849 earned#39 of 130

200416,565 earned#39 of 121

200513,676 earned#43 of 121

200613,928 earned#41 of 121

200715,002 earned#39 of 121

200815,168 earned#40 of 121

200916,971 earned#40 of 122

201014,825 earned#43 of 125

201116,162 earned#38 of 129

201215,528 earned#36 of 132

201313,411 earned#31 of 129

201413,749 earned#43 of 136

201513,164 earned#43 of 138

201612,647 earned#44 of 138

201711,615 earned#46 of 139

201811,822 earned#48 of 139

201910,676 earned#50 of 139

20204,874 earned#72 of 137

2021No data available#47 of 137

2022No data available#54 of 138

2023No data available#56 of 138

2024No data available#53 of 138

2025No data available#56 of 141

Known count No data available

"—" means merit badges were earned that year but the exact number is not currently known. "#56 of 141" means the badge was number 56 of the 141 merit badges earned that year. National counts have not been published since 2020, but the rankings have. The grand total comes from official reports and includes the years without a known count. The 2025 all-time place is an estimate, because the counts for 2021 to 2025 are worked out from each year's official ranking and the total number of merit badges earned that year.

19726,146#65 of 124

197312,917#42 of 122

197416,895#43 of 121

197517,299#42 of 128

197616,247#43 of 130

197715,130#41 of 130

197813,017#42 of 131

197912,832#36 of 132

19809,715#34 of 132

198113,227#36 of 134

1982—

1983—

1984—

1985—

1986—

1987—

1988—

1989—

1990—

1991—

1992—

199317,388#30 of 123

1994—

1995—

199616,945#35 of 134

1997—

1998—

1999—

200017,230#38 of 128

200115,425#40 of 129

200216,273#41 of 129

200316,849#39 of 130

200416,565#39 of 121

200513,676#43 of 121

200613,928#41 of 121

200715,002#39 of 121

200815,168#40 of 121

200916,971#40 of 122

201014,825#43 of 125

201116,162#38 of 129

201215,528#36 of 132

201313,411#31 of 129

201413,749#43 of 136

201513,164#43 of 138

201612,647#44 of 138

201711,615#46 of 139

201811,822#48 of 139

201910,676#50 of 139

20204,874#72 of 137

2021—#47 of 137

2022—#54 of 138

2023—#56 of 138

2024—#53 of 138

2025—#56 of 141

Grand total through 2020:

This page keeps growing. More of this badge's history, including its patches and pamphlets, is being checked and will be added once it is confirmed.

Fish and Wildlife Management: workbook data

Printings (40)

Have	Year	Month	Cover	Back	Run	©	BSA #	UPC	HC	Notes
x	1972	October	8	back-8a	25M	1972	3307		HCSV1, HC MISC S
x	1973	October	8	back-8a	20M	1972	3307		HCT
	1974	not made
x	1975	January	8	back-8b	20M	1972	3307
x	1976	March	8	back-8c-1	14M	1972	3307
x	1977	April	8	back-8c-2	13M	1972	3307
x	1978	May	8	back-8d	11M	1972	3307
	1979	not made
x	1980	March	9A	back-9a	10M	1972	3307
x	1981	April	9A	back-9a	10M	1972	3307
	1982	not made
x	1983	March	9A	back-9a	10M	1972	3307
x	1984	April	9A	back-9a	10M	1972	3307
x	1985	no date code	9A	back-9b-2		1972	3307			no printing code identification
x	1986	March	9A	back-9b-2	10M	1972	3307
x	1986	November	9A	back-9b-2	10M	1972	3307
	1987	not made
x	1988	October	9A	back-9b-2	10M		3307
	1989	not made
x	1990	July	9B	back-9c-1	10M		3307A
x	1990	December	9B	back-9c-1	10M	1990	3307A
	1991	not made
x	1992	March	9B	back-9c-2	12M	1990	33307	730176333076
x	1993	March	9B	back-9c-2	12M		33307	730176333076
x	1994	November	9B	back-9d	11M		33307	730176333076
	1995	not made
x	1996	April	9B	back-9d	9.5M		33307	730176333076
x	1997	September	9B	back-9d			33307	730176333076		front shows © 1990 with 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 back has september 1, 1996
x	1998		9B	back-9e			33307	730176333076
x	1999		9B	back-9f			33307	730176333076
x	2000		9B	back-9f			33307	730176333076
x	2001		9B	back-9f			33307	730176333076
x	2002		9B	back-9f			33307	730176333076
	2003	not made
x	2004		9C-1	back-9g		2004	33307A	730176333076
x	2005		9C-1	back-9g		2004	33307A	730176333076
x	2006		9C-1	back-9g		2004	33307A	730176333076
x	2007		9C-2	back-9h-2		2004	33307A	730176333076
x	2008		10A	back-1008b4		2004	35898	730176358987
	2009	not made
x	2010		10C-1	back-1008b4		2004	35898	730176358987
x	2011		10C-1	back-1008b4			35898	730176358987
x	2012		10C-1	back-1008b4			35898	730176358987
	2013	not made
x	2014		10C-2	back-1013b4			619698	730176357706		01268-AL
	2015	not made
	2016	not made
x	2017		10D-1	back-1016b1			619698	730176357706		01268-PSF
x	2017		10D-2	back-1016b1			619698	730176357706		358
	2018	not made
x	2019		10D-2	back-1019b1			619698	730176357706		358
x	2020		10D-3	back-1019b1			655190	730176351438		358
	2021	not made
	2022	not made
	2023	not made
x	2024		10D-3	back-1019b1			661989	7301766619899		00358n
	2025	not made

Earned and rank by year

Year	Earned	Rank	Of
1972	6,146	65	124
1973	12,917	42	122
1974	16,895	43	121
1975	17,299	42	128
1976	16,247	43	130
1977	15,130	41	130
1978	13,017	42	131
1979	12,832	36	132
1980	9,715	34	132
1981	13,227	36	134
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993	17,388	30	123
1994
1995
1996	16,945	35	134
1997
1998
1999
2000	17,230	38	128
2001	15,425	40	129
2002	16,273	41	129
2003	16,849	39	130
2004	16,565	39	121
2005	13,676	43	121
2006	13,928	41	121
2007	15,002	39	121
2008	15,168	40	121
2009	16,971	40	122
2010	14,825	43	125
2011	16,162	38	129
2012	15,528	36	132
2013	13,411	31	129
2014	13,749	43	136
2015	13,164	43	138
2016	12,647	44	138
2017	11,615	46	139
2018	11,822	48	139
2019	10,676	50	139
2020	4,874	72	137
2021		47	137
2022		54	138
2023		56	138
2024		53	138
2025		56	141