Forestry B.S.

David Affleck, Chair

The B.S. in Forestry prepares students to be leaders in the stewardship of forest resources, from water to wildlife to wood products. Through field and classroom experiences, students gain expertise in the core biophysical and ecological processes that shape forested landscapes, and synthesize this knowledge with socio-economic principles to effectively manage, conserve, and restore natural resources.

The program uses the unique natural settings offered in Montana to give students classroom and field learning experiences with skills-based courses, independent studies, internships and research projects that lead to diverse employment opportunities.

With a degree in Forestry students can work as forest ecologists, silviculturalists, timber managers, forest planners, wildland fire specialists, inventory managers, forest rangers, or as range or soil conservationists. The Forestry degree is accredited by the Society of American Foresters and meets the requirements for qualification as Forester for the U.S. Civil Service Commission (440 series). This means student can work as a forester for federal agencies such as the U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Indian Affairs as well as for many state agencies and with private industry. View more information on civil service requirements.

Bachelor of Science - Forestry

W.A Franke College of Forestry & Conservation

Degree Specific Credits: 91-96

Required Cumulative GPA: 2.0

Catalog Year: 2021-22

General Education Requirements

Information regarding these requirements can be found in the General Education Section of the catalog.

Summary

Code	Title	Hours
Lower-Division Major Required Courses		20
Lower-Division Outside Major Required Courses		23-26
Upper-Division Major Required Courses		28
Professional Electives		15
Upper-Division Writing Requirement
Total Hours		86-89

Lower-Division Major Required Courses

Code	Title	Hours
Complete all of the following courses:
FORS 130	Intro Forestry Field Skills	2
FORS 202	Forest Mensuration	3
FORS 230	Fire Management & Environmental Change	3
FORS 232	Forest Insects & Diseases	3
FORS 241N	Dendrology	3
FORS 250	Intro to GIS for Forest Mgt	3
NRSM 210N	Soils, Water and Climate	3
Total Hours		20

Minimum Required Grade: C-

Lower-Division Outside Major Required Courses

Code	Title	Hours
Complete all of the following courses:
BIOO 105N	Introduction to Botany	3
BIOB 160N	Principles of Living Systems	3
CHMY 121N	Introduction to General Chemistry	4
COMX 111A	Introduction to Public Speaking	3
or THTR 120A	Introduction to Acting I
ECNS 201S	Principles of Microeconomics	3
Complete one of the following two options:		4-6
M 151	Precalculus
M 121 & M 122	College Algebra and College Trigonometry
Complete one of the following courses:		3-4
FORS 201	Forest Biometrics
STAT 216	Introduction to Statistics
Total Hours		23-26

Minimum Required Grade: C-

Upper-Division Major Required Courses

Code	Title	Hours
Complete all of the following courses:
FORS 320	Forest Environmental Economics	3
FORS 330	Forest Ecology	3
FORS 335	Forest Ecology Lab	1
FORS 340	Forest Product Manufacturing	3
FORS 341	Timber Harvesting & Roads	3
FORS 349	Practice of Silviculture	3
FORS 440	Forest Stand Management	3
FORS 481	Forest Planning	3
NRSM 385	Watershed Hydrology	3
NRSM 422	Nat Res Policy/Administration	3
Total Hours		28

Minimum Required Grade: C-

Professional Electives

Rule: Complete 15 total credits from the combined subcategories.

Biophysical Sciences

Code	Title	Hours
Complete one of the following courses:		3
BIOE 370	General Ecology
BIOO 335	Rocky Mountain Flora
BIOO 433	Plant Physiology
FORS 333	Fire Ecology
FORS 342	Wood Anatomy, Properties, & ID
NRSM 418	Ecosystem Climatology
WILD 370	Wildlife Habitat Cons & Mgmt
Total Hours		3

Minimum Required Grade: C-

Management Application

Code	Title	Hours
Complete two of the following courses:		5-6
FORS 331	Wildland Fuel Management
FORS 434	Advanced Forest Roads
FORS 435	Advaced Timber Harvesting
NRSM 265	Elements of Ecological Restoration
NRSM 360	Rangeland Mgt (equiv 260)
Total Hours		5-6

Minimum Required Grade: C-

Policy and Social Science

Code	Title	Hours
Complete one of the following courses:		3
ENST 225S	Sustainable Communities
ENST 230H	Nature and Society
NASX 303E	Ecological Perspectives in Native American Traditions
NRSM 326	Climate and Society
NRSM 370S	Wildland Conservation Policy/Governance
NRSM 379	Collab in Nat Res Decisions
NRSM 389E	Ethics and Sustainability
NRSM 424	Community Forestry & Conservtn
NRSM 427	Advanced Water Policy
NRSM 475	Environment & Development
PTRM 217S	Parks & Outdoor Rec. Mgmt.
PTRM 300	Recreation Behavior
PTRM 310	Nat Res Interp and Comm
PTRM 380	Rec Admin & Leadership
PTRM 451	Tourism & Sustainability
PTRM 482	Wilderness & Protected Area Management
Total Hours		3

Minimum Required Grade: C-

Measurement and Analysis

Code	Title	Hours
Complete one of the following courses:		3
FORS 350	Forestry Apps of GIS
FORS 351	Env Remote Sensing
FORS 505	Sampling Methods
GEO 421	Hydrology
Total Hours		3

Minimum Required Grade: C-

Upper-Division Writing Requirement

Code	Title	Hours
Complete three of the following courses:		9
BIOE 447	Ecosystem Ecology
FORS 330	Forest Ecology
FORS 341	Timber Harvesting & Roads
FORS 349	Practice of Silviculture
FORS 440	Forest Stand Management
Total Hours		9

Minimum Required Grade: C-