Education in Forestry

[Cole90]

Hey everyone. I'm getting ready graduate and to head off to college, and am interested in looking into a degree in forestry or something close to it. I have been reading alot on here lately to just stay away from forestry but i cant really think of anything else i would realistically want to do. So with that being said, what kind of education have some of you gotten? What do you reccomend looking into? What kind of summer jobs (if there are any open) should i consider for training? Any advice is appreciated.

Thanks,
Cole

 

[2dogs]

Look for a job in natural resource management, any type. Around here the certified arborists are pretty hungry (though they still don't return phone calls). Working for a larger tree service company will get you some experience, same for a parks job. CCC will get you some valuable experience as would wildland firefighting.

 

[Cole90]

Look for a job in natural resource management, any type. Around here the certified arborists are pretty hungry (though they still don't return phone calls). Working for a larger tree service company will get you some experience, same for a parks job. CCC will get you some valuable experience as would wildland firefighting.

Yeah i was thinking about working at a tree service since there is only a handfull of logging companies around here right now that probably arent gonna hire for awhile. thanks

 

[Gologit]

Look for a job in natural resource management, any type. Around here the certified arborists are pretty hungry (though they still don't return phone calls). Working for a larger tree service company will get you some experience, same for a parks job. CCC will get you some valuable experience as would wildland firefighting.

Good advice.

 

[slowp]

Do you have patience? Are you calm and able to deal with a huge, unseen force of management? If the answer to the above is maybe, check with the Forest Service. Unless you are a faller, the pay is as good as logging.

Ok, here's my disclaimer on the following information. I'm not a personnel expert (I HATE the term Human Capital) .

I believe you can enroll in a program which will help pay tuition, and you are guaranteed a Summer job, if you can meet whatever criteria it is, and also agree to work wherever "they" decide you are needed. You might want to look into it. Us baby boomers are retiring in droves. The 'ologists keep coming up with more and more complicated projects, so work is available. Also, not many young people want to work in Forestry, especially Timber,oops now called Natural Resources or Forest Products, because we figure out how to log despite impossible demands. Not much, but a little. Anyway, check it out if you are interested.

 

[slowp]

A little Plaguerizing of Rudyard Kipling...

IF you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:

Then you might be suitable to work for the Forest Service and be A Forester.....:greenchainsaw:

 

[Cole90]

Thanks slowp,
Do you know the names of any reputable schools in our area? I am currently enrolled at CWU but i dont think they offer much in the way of forestry or natural resources.

 

[forestryworks]

Thanks slowp,
Do you know the names of any reputable schools in our area? I am currently enrolled at CWU but i dont think they offer much in the way of forestry or natural resources.

check out the Society of American Forester's website. that's a good place to start to find a list of schools in your state.

 

[slowp]

Thanks slowp,
Do you know the names of any reputable schools in our area? I am currently enrolled at CWU but i dont think they offer much in the way of forestry or natural resources.

I would recommend Oregon State. Not to be confused with the U of Oregon.
The U of Washington changed to Environmental Science, and I'm not sure what WSU has anymore. I heard they were thinking of doing away with their forestry program. The kid here who is enrolled in the program I mentioned is going to Centralia Community College for the first two years. He is going through the search for a 4 year school, unless they brainwashed him against forestry. Centralia did away with their forestry and now also has "environmental science".

I'm not a real forester. I only went to a 2 year school and a crash forest engineering course (no longer offered) at Oregon State. But, OSU has a hands on program, they even have or had their own yarder. They have a general forestry program and an internationally famous forest engineering program. But I don't like orange!

And they switched the Happy Beaver to a Mean looking one.

 

[371groundie]

i got a forest operations degree from UMaine. its a nice education. but not alot of forestry jobs out here. especially for people like me. if you have business sense you can be a wood buyer. most poeple end up being computer foresters for large companies and never get out in the woods. i took a job straight outa college painting wood ahead of logging crews. i was miserable, i went back to logging. i love loggin, but theres no wood market, so now im signed on with a tree service. (atleast i can still play with my chainsaws.) so is it a 4 year degree out the window? no, but most people wonder why im not a forester.

im not the worst though. i got a buddy who graduated ahead of me, worked 3 years as a forester at two different firms. he left the first one due to differences of opinion, the second one let him go. but before it ended he got his foresters license. in highschool he got his CDL. he is now a licensed forester driving a concrete mixer. wasted degree? mabey.

everyone says get a college degree and the world will open up for you. i know people who are getting thier undergrad, finding that there are no jobs, so they go back to grad school cause they can get loans to pay for school and the cost of living. so mabey college isnt such a great idea afterall?

im not trying to push you one way or another, just providing some perspective. i think a college education is a good thing and basically proves to people that you can learn. it seems that it doenst matter what the degree is in, just so long as you get an education. if i was in your position i think i would get a degree in somthing that interests me. it alot easier to focus on school work when its somthing you find fun and interesting.

 

[johncinco]

I know 4 people with degres in forestry fields, all from State schools.

1 sells advertising, 1 is a waitress, 1 has a hay/firewood business and 1 is a fishing guide. 2 worked for the Forestry service for awhile and were eventually cut when the money stopped coming.

Its a dream job, but pretty hard to come by.

 

[myrtle]

Its a great time to go to school to get a forestry degree. It might not be a great time right now to be graduating with one but things will pick back up in a year or two.

I graduated from Humboldt State in 2005 and had 4 solid permanent job offers. I got on with the BLM and have been working my way up the ladder ever since. In all aspects of federal employment there is a huge wave of people retiring every year. Since I started the timber side of our office has had 8 retirements and correspondingly have hired 8 entry level people. My counterparts locally in the private industry side are going through a similar transitions.

You have four great schools to choose from in the northwest. Oregon State, Humboldt, Idaho, and Montana all have top notch programs. Each is slightly specialized for their own region but all will give you the preparation to work anywhere west of the Rockies.

I would recommend doing your first two years at a community college. It does save a lot of cash and they generally have smaller class sizes for the general ed classes you need to take your first two years. Get your math, chemistry, and english done there so you can hit the ground running when you do transfer into a forestry program.

No matter how steep the hill or thick the brush I still find myself taking a moment when I am working in the woods to stop and think somtimes wow, someone actually pays me to do this?

 

[lfnh]

...from slowp earlier suggestion, a couple of links:

http://www.fs.fed.us/fsjobs/jobs_students.shtml

http://www.blm.gov/co/st/en/BLM_Resources/careers/scep.html

Firsthand experience with FS and BLM, consider possibility of getting seasonal or paid (unpaid last resort) volunteer job with them. It's one way to find out what it's like to work for them. And these kind of jobs often get you leads into permanent positions.
Personally, had a couple of temporary jobs with both agencies and got an intense field education that couldn't be had anywhere.
Also got a chance to see some of the inside red tape and bureaucracy that they deal with.

 

[2dogs]

It's kinda funny right now. I have been trying to hire a licensed arborist for days now and only one person has returned my phone call. That person said they had to talk to another arborist first to help on the job. I guess things are not that bad.

 

[slowp]

I know 4 people with degres in forestry fields, all from State schools.

1 sells advertising, 1 is a waitress, 1 has a hay/firewood business and 1 is a fishing guide. 2 worked for the Forestry service for awhile and were eventually cut when the money stopped coming.

Its a dream job, but pretty hard to come by.

Were they willing to relocate? Right now I know of one starting position that's wide open in Collyfonia. Nobody wants to go there. Sometimes you have to go to the undesirable spots to start out, and then you can be pickier as you get experience.

 

[arbadacarba]

Hey everyone. I'm getting ready graduate and to head off to college, and am interested in looking into a degree in forestry or something close to it. I have been reading alot on here lately to just stay away from forestry but i cant really think of anything else i would realistically want to do. So with that being said, what kind of education have some of you gotten? What do you reccomend looking into? What kind of summer jobs (if there are any open) should i consider for training? Any advice is appreciated.

Thanks,
Cole

A great rule of thumb is if nobody else wants to do it then the field is wide open and you can start writing you own salary. If everybody else is doing it then you're going to be downwardly mobile not too long in the future. Its sort of like niche marketing.

Congratulations, be the best, and good luck in the future!

 

[056kid]

OSU, thats where i am planning to go. some of you scare me though.

 

[smokechase II]

How to get a degree at Oregon State

"I would also recommend Oregon State."

Do the following:

1) Select at least two community colleges to review.
Visit with their counselors and ask what courses they offer that will transfer to a program like OSU. Many of their forestry courses will not apply to a four year degree program at a school that cares.
You may find that one year is all that is worthwhile at a CC if you don't want to waste money on credits that will mean nothing toward your 4 year degree.
2) Visit OSU and at least one other similar program.
Meet with a counselor there. Schedule before you leave home.
Verify the transfer credits as suggested by the CC's.
Get specific rates for credit hour for out of state tuition and inquire about scholarships for decent students. (You need not be academically gifted to access the $300-$500 ones.)
3) Get a job fire fighting for either the Forest Service, BLM or a State Forestry. Apply everywhere. Be ready to travel to an odd spot in Idaho to get your start. Fire fighters make good - decent money for young pups going to school. You can't get better than traveling to over 50 National Forests in 16 States, 3 National Parks, BLM, BIA, Alaska and Alberta on the Governments dime to see forests and forestry. (That worked for me.)

Pay attention to the Hope Scholarship Credit or Lifetime Learning Tax deductions. Turbo Tax covers those easily. The Hope Scholarship Credit refunds essentially all of your federal tax for the first two years of your post High School Ed.

 

[smokechase II]

Oh Yeah

My oldest is just getting his Forestry degree from OSU this spring.

Spring break He took off with three buds and they went hiking cross country in a wilderness on the Oregon Coast that has basically NO (maintained) TRAILS in it.

Cross country, raining, biggest tree was almost 12 foot dbh.
They had good gear and enjoyed it.

==========

Wherever you go. Enjoy the best years of your life.

All the Best.

 

[Bowhunter01]

Hey everyone. I'm getting ready graduate and to head off to college, and am interested in looking into a degree in forestry or something close to it. I have been reading alot on here lately to just stay away from forestry but i cant really think of anything else i would realistically want to do. So with that being said, what kind of education have some of you gotten? What do you reccomend looking into? What kind of summer jobs (if there are any open) should i consider for training? Any advice is appreciated.

Thanks,
Cole

I majored in forestry at NCSU. I've been out for about 10 years now. I started out cruising timber as a procurement forester for a lumber company, like a lot of new grads, then worked for the state forest service as a county extension forester. Fought wildfires in Washington state one summer. I got interested in arboriculture, and got certified as a tree expert and an arborist. Worked for a couple large tree companies, got my pesticide licenses, and started my own business a few years ago.

There was a time when I sort of regretted majoring in forestry, instead of accounting, business management, ANYTHING that paid well and didn't involve sweating and hard work outside all day every day. But that basic degree does give you a lot of options for careers. Now they offer Urban Forestry courses and degrees, which is something I wish they'd had years ago.

With a bachelors degree in forestry you can work for the US or state forest service, private timber companies and logging outfits, private or municipal tree services, land or resource management companies (big hunting properties need people to manage them!), don't forget the supporting industries of the timber and lumber industries, like forestry software, GIS/GPS data, surveyors, etc.

You can carve out your own niche. Take some wildlife management courses as well, and you can put in food plots for people, manage hunting properties, have your own tree service, be a consultant forester or arborist. The degree is just the first stepping stone to deciding where you want to go, and there are a whole lot of options that are not readily visible. I recommend it, it has allowed me a lot of flexibility in my business.

I'm sure there are internships available to check out different aspects of the industry. As for summer jobs, if you lived closer I could help you out. Talk with your local extension or state forester for his views, and talk to some local tree guys. Good luck!