When I was at the Philmont Training Center a few weeks ago, one of our instructors told us that the Outdoor Ethics Awareness Award and the Outdoor Ethics Action Award had been retired.
This wasn't a secret, but I didn't want to share with you until I had some documentation. The news has now been shared on the Scouting Program Updates page.
Here is the statement regarding the retirement of these awards.
Outdoor Ethics Awareness and Action Awards for Cub Scouts and Leaders Have Been Retired
The June 2015 launch of the new Cub Scouting program fundamentally changed Cub Scout advancement requirements. The knowledge, skills, and attributes acquired through the Cub Scout Outdoor Ethics Awareness and Action Awards have been incorporated into, and made an integral part of, the new Cub Scout adventures.
To avoid redundancy, the Cub Scout Outdoor Ethics Awareness and Action Awards have been retired and will no longer be available for Cub Scouts and Cub Scout leaders to earn. The adult content will be incorporated into the revisions being made to BALOO training and will be released soon.
We discussed the rationale for discontinuing this award, and the bottom line is that the boys are doing these things in their required adventures, so they would basically be earning an additional award for completing an adventure. Here are two examples:
The Outdoor Ethics Awareness Award requirements included knowing Scouting's Outdoor Code and learning about the Leave No Trace Principles for Kids. Tigers in the Wild, Call of the Wild and Paws on the Path (for Wolves), Webelos Walkabout, and Camper (for Arrow of Light) all include the same requirements.
These same adventures require that the boys follow the Leave No Trace Principles for Kids, which is also a requirement for the Outdoor Ethics Action Award.
The awards are still available for Boy Scouts and the Scouters who work with them.
One thing to remember…even though the boys won't earn an award, we all should continue adhering to the Outdoor Code and the Leave No Trace principles.
Yours in Scouting,
Sherry
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