Forestry Degree

[arborman1]

I got a question for the foresters, but first a little background. I've worked as a wildland firefighter, wildlife tech for fish and wildlife, and now I'm climbing for wrights tree service. I have wanted to be a forester for sometime, but I didnt get my education while I was younger and had the flexibility. From what I can gather obtaining a forestry degree is a pretty involved thing that would make it tough for me to support my family working full time and affording a bachelor's degree. So finally to the actual question: are there any degrees I could obtain that are in topics related to forestry that, combined with work experience, could help me become a forester? Or is it forestry degree or nothing??? 

Hope to hear back from somebody, thank you!!

[WDH]

To become a licensed Forester, at least here in Georgia, you have to have at minimum a BS degree in Forestry from an accredited Forestry School and you have to pass a certification test. 

[arborman1]

I live in Kentucky and the only accredited forestry program here is at UK which is about 2 and half hours from me. The point I was trying to make was I have to work fulltime as it stands to get by, and after some extensive research on UKs forestry program it's pretty immersive. Like you got to be there basically as a full time student to complete the curriculum. Which I wont be able to do. I wondered though if since I've been building experience in forestry related jobs, maybe I could obtain another degree via online classes or weekends that would be relevant enough to maybe help land me a career as a forester of some kind. 

[Ron Wenrich]

Why do you want to be a forester?  There are other jobs in the industry that can be done without a degree.  Logging, timber procurement, log procurement, amoung others.  With your arborist training, you might be able to do utility forestry work, as well as urban forestry work.  Those are all jobs you can do without a degree.  I have the BS in forestry and did all those jobs.  But, I worked with a lot of non-degreed people along the way to get the meaningful training.  They all got their degree at the school of hard knocks through on the job training.  Some were good, some weren't.

If you're interested in just cruising timber and getting data, then you could look at a Forest Techinician degree which is a 2 yr Associates degree.  

The Bachelors degree is more immersive, but coming out of school you still don't know much.  That comes from working in the field.  I've run into guys with degrees that aren't very good at forest management, even with experience.  The better mgmt includes knowing how to layout good data gathering and how to interpret it.  That data gathering and interpretation skill flows into many other aspects of the industry.  

You have to figure out what it is you want to do.  The only thing you can do with a forestry degree in my state is to represent yourself as a forester.  We don't have a licensing procedure.  I've been called as an expert witness, and the degree gives more credibility.  It doesn't happen all that often.  If you're looking to work for a government, then you need the degree.

[dgdrls]

Ron W,  great input, 

Arborman1, 
distance learning may be an option,

Forestry Degree Programs Online: Certificates, Bachelors & Masters


the hard part is tying all the courses together into an
"approved" program.

D

[Okefenokee_D]

It is not hard. It is just according to how many years you want to put in it.

And you really need to see if any forester jobs are in your area. Hate for you to go through it and you come out with no job. Is Forestry a big service in your area? If not, you may will have to move.

[Pullinchips]

I live in Kentucky and the only accredited forestry program here is at UK which is about 2 and half hours from me. The point I was trying to make was I have to work fulltime as it stands to get by, and after some extensive research on UKs forestry program it's pretty immersive. Like you got to be there basically as a full time student to complete the curriculum. Which I wont be able to do. I wondered though if since I've been building experience in forestry related jobs, maybe I could obtain another degree via online classes or weekends that would be relevant enough to maybe help land me a career as a forester of some kind.

I would say if you have a family there is no way to get a degree and commute two hours one way and still work full time and think you will ever sleep or see your family. When I was in school I got to school for 8am classes and had a lab three days a week for two and a half years while at Clemson (I transferred in). While I did have a free period here and there I had to stay at school, no way to do anything else but study or BS with my buddies. I am not trying to sound negative or anything but that's just how it was. Now I did go with a guy who had a wife and three kids, but he quit work and was a full time student while his wife supported them. Others worked part time while wife and kid were back home. I think the only way to do it would be to move family closer to UK and live in student like conditions while you worked part time.
In SC I believe you can still become a register Forester with a two year degree assuming it has the correct number of hours in certain classes. You have to work something like 5-6 years and then get recommendations from so many registered foresters  BEFORE they allow you to sit for the SAF and SC test.
With a two year degree you can be a forestry tech though.