Going into Forestry for college

Ron Wenrich · June 05, 2008, 09:42:30 PM

I think a lot depends on what type of forestry you want to go into. Practices vary from area to area. We didn't study too much plantation forestry at Penn State, and there was more emphasis on hardwoods. Pine production isn't practiced much in our area.

If you're interested in southern or western forests, then choose a college that is in that area.

Here's a list of accredited forestry schools: http://www.bugwood.org/silviculture/forestryschools.html

Vermont's is not accredited by the Society of American Foresters. Neither is Rutgers or Montana. Being accredited carries a lot of weight in the hiring end and in some states, in the licensing end.

Instead of Vermont, think about Maine or Syracuse. Instead of Montana, think Idaho or Oregon State. Out of state is going to mean a lot higher tuition fee.

Dan_Shade · June 05, 2008, 10:00:16 PM

also, don't overlook the networking potentials of schools in getting jobs after college. Find out what the employment rates are of the different schools you are looking at after school. be prepared at some college professor being offended at the idea of you going to school in order to prepare for a career, though. You gotta look past them!

I had a few friends in Forestry at WVU way back when, and at that time, they were boasting a 100% employment rate (this is from memory, so don't beat me up if I'm wrong).

I second the making the most of school, I did pretty good in school, but I could have done better, I now somewhat regret not trying harder. It looks impressive on a resume to have excellent grades.

ellmoe · June 06, 2008, 06:11:49 AM

I'll say this about the process of obtaining a forestry/wildlife degree, in the experience of my classmates and I, the first two years were less than enjoyable, the last two, great! It's hard to sit through the humanities courses etc. you will have to take. Just stick with it and the years spent in the School of Forestry will make it worthwhile.

Mark

Tillaway · June 08, 2008, 09:31:48 PM

I am starting to see one heck of a allot of applicants from east coast schools. In fact we have interns from, Michigan Tech and SUNY ( Northern Arizona University usually has at least one here but not so far this year). Our past applicants for permanent forestry positions have been mostly from the east coast or the mid west. We try to hire from Oregon State, University of Washington, or Idaho. Humboldt is a California RPF prep school and we rarely get any applicants from there.

East coast degrees can travel west. You have to show the ability to learn quick. Our harvesting systems are different and the terrain here is... extreme. We are some what reluctant to hire from out side the region due to the terrain. We usually ask an applicant if they have been to western Oregon or Washington before so they have at least seen what they will be getting in to.

Do west coast degrees travel east?

Ron Wenrich · June 09, 2008, 05:41:34 AM

Sure they do. I ran into a logger with a forestry degree from the west coast that was doing a seedling/sapling inventory under telephone utility lines. He said that logging jobs were getting scarce, so he came east.

The knowledge transfers pretty well. You just have to learn how things are done in each locale. We don't have high lead logging and we don't have large clearcuts. Our woodlots are mainly privately owned and they are much smaller. We're heavy into selection cutting, and in some areas, pulpwood markets are slim.

As for extreme terrain, I had a logger say to me just last week, that after watching the Axman series, he felt he could do that with a skidder. He didn't feel the terrain was any worse than what we find in the ridge and valley section of Pennsylvania.

BaldBob · June 12, 2008, 09:57:42 PM

Although I was raised in Pennsylvania, I chose Colorado State University over Penn State. At the time (50 years ago) out of state tuition at CSU was less than in state tuition at PSU; that is not the case today. However, I am pretty sure that out of state tuition at the University of Idaho ( an excellent forestry school from which I hired several graduates before I retired) is currently less than instate tuition at PSU, and out of state costs at Oregon State University ( another excellent school whose graduates I was quite pleased with) are very comparable with instate costs at PSU. My evaluation of Penn State graduates was that though they had less practical knowledge of western forestry than graduates of OSU, Uof I, Humboldt State, or even Cal or the U of W, the better students quickly caught up.
As was mentioned earlier, what school is best for you depends on what type of forestry career you want to follow. If, for instance, you are interested in a career with Government, then schools like CSU, Utah State, Penn State, N. Arizona U, U of Missouri, Purdue, etc. might be your best choice, while if you are interested in a career in the private sector then one of the Southern forestry schools would be your best choice for work in the South, and OSU, or the U of I would probably be your best choice for the West, for instance. Also which specialty you want to follow dictates which school is best. For instance one of the best schools for GIS is the Univ. of New Hampshire. Other schools may excel in forest biometrics, or silviculture, or Forest policy, or watershed management. If, as I suspect, you have no idea of where you want to go (both literally and figuratively), you could do far worse than going to a good generalist school such as Penn State. and then, if you wish to specialize, go to a graduate school that excels in that specialty/region.

Cedarman · June 13, 2008, 08:41:59 AM

BaldBob, I wish I were sitting across from you drinking a beer. I would make you buy the next round for messing with my Purdue. Other than messing with us, you make good points.

BaldBob · June 13, 2008, 06:07:17 PM

Yeah, I realized that I misspelled Purdue right after I hit "Post". I couldn't find an edit function for this forum. Is there one? Oops just found the edit function.

GlennPagano · June 15, 2008, 08:49:41 AM

Ok I narrowed my choices down to just two colleges for forestry. University of Maine and Penn State.

pappy19 · June 17, 2008, 11:23:22 PM

Don't overlook the south. Most of the real forest management started in the south, both pine and hardwood management. I went to Louisiana Tech in north Louisiana where timber is king and still is. Louisiana Tech is a hands on, field oriented university. It will make you an artist....like my old prof said many years ago " this school of Forestry is part of the Arts & Science Department, 90% art and 10% science. Some folks become better artists than others". You can go to the finest school and make the best grades and still not be worth a crap in the woods, dealing with others or supervising subordinates. You'll probably learn more from some old forestry tech the first 2 years after graduating than you learned in 4 years of college. Just think about it.

Riles · June 18, 2008, 08:32:03 AM

Each school does have it's own reputation as to their focus and what they excel at. There are two forestry schools in Lousiana, the other being at LSU, where the focus is more environmental. LaTech produces the timber beasts. My dendro professor would say "I want you to be able to identify the marketable species from a chain away."