The Camp Fire Conservation Fund has had a long and supportive relationship with the Boy Scouts of America.
The Camp Fire Club of America was founded in 1897 by a group of men who loved the outdoors. They included hunters, target shooters, anglers, explorers, authors, artists, photographers, and most most importantly conservationists. Naturalist William T. Hornaday organized the club. Daniel Carter Beard and Ernest Thompson Seton, the co-founders of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA), were two of the original thirty-four charter members of Camp Fire.
Hornaday Silver Medal Winner Scholarship Opportunities for Higher Education
To honor select recipients of the William T. Hornaday Silver Medal award, the Camp Fire Conservation Fund offers an annual William T. Hornaday Silver Medal Scholarship. One scholarship recipient is chosen by Camp Fire from the Silver Medal winners each year. Consideration for this scholarship is automatic upon being awarded the Hornaday Silver Medal. Recent recipients include:
- 2020 – Francis Micah Holston (Griffin, GA)
- 2019 – Peter Livengood (Dunbar, PA)
- 2018 – Trevor D. Burke (Dallas, TX)
- 2017 – James Raubenheimer (West Chester, PA)
- 2016 – Bennet L. David (Asheville, NC)
- 2015 – Porter Z. Bradford (Blanding, UT)

“Leave this world a little better than you found it”
“Conservation is a state of harmony between men and land”
“Try to leave this world a little better than you found it and, when your turn comes to die, you can die happy in feeling that at any rate you have not wasted your time but have done your best”
“A true conservationist is a man who knows that the world is not given by his fathers, but borrowed from his children”
“Like the resource it seeks to protect, wildlife conservation must be dynamic, changing as conditions change, seeking always to become more effective”
“Study nature, love nature, stay close to nature. It will never fail you”
“There can be no greater issue than that of conservation in this country”
“We and the beasts are kin”
“...conservation of land and conservation of people frequently go hand in hand”
“The continued existence of wildlife and wilderness is important to the quality of life of humans”
“The purpose of conservation: The greatest good to the greatest number of people for the longest time”