It supplied pulp and paper for the mills in Grand Falls for many years and was famous for its large spring log drives.

The town is located in the interior of the island, twenty miles west of Grand Falls in Division No.

A strategically important point with regards to transportation by water, the Mi'kmaq are also known to have used this area as a camp site when traveling to the Exploits River and on to Halls Bay.

The lumbering operations in Badger were taken over in the period 1905–1909 by Harry Judson Crowe, who would later sell the timber limits to the A.E.

Reed (Newfoundland) company as a source of wood for their Bishop's Falls pulp mill.

In 1911 AND Co built warehouses, repair shops, blacksmiths forges and a cable scow to facilitate the movement of men, horses and supplies across the Exploits River.

This log drive took place on the Exploits River between Badger and Grand Falls and was carried on between 1908–1991.

As logging was the mainstay of the area, Badger received national attention during the 1959 Newfoundland International Woodworkers of America (IWA) Strike.

The Strike culminated in March 1959 with a riot in the town in which one policeman was killed and dozens of loggers injured.

[5] When a bridge was built over the Exploits River at Grand Falls in the early 1960s, Badger's importance as the gateway into the lumber woods was greatly diminished.

As of late, important players in the town economy include several gas stations and restaurants, a heavy equipment training school and a metal fabrication establishment.

Long plagued by flooding, Badger was inundated by a catastrophic flood on Saturday, February 15, 2003 when the Exploits River, Red Indian River, and Badger River were backed up with ice jams, causing water levels to rise 2.5 meters overflowing their banks and flooding the town under several feet of water and ice.