Forestry and Conservation
Program Description
The College of Forestry and Conservation was established in 1913 as one of the first forestry schools in North America. During the school's long history, it has established itself as a leader in integrated natural resource management and a center for excellence in education and research. Current enrollment includes approximately 740 undergraduate students and 140 graduate students. Graduate enrollment is about 40 percent Ph.D. students with the remainder in various master's programs offered within the college. The B.S. in Forestry is accredited by the Society of American Foresters. The College maintains offices, classrooms and laboratories in the Forestry Building, Stone Hall, the Charles H. Clapp Building and the BioResearch Building of The University of Montana.
The College of Forestry and Conservation is also the home of the Montana Forest and Conservation Experiment Station (MFCES), a research unit established by the state legislature in 1937. The Dean of the College serves as the Director of the Experiment Station. Faculty and graduate student research projects are administered by the station.
The College operates Lubrecht Experimental Forest, a 28,000-acre field research area located about 30 miles northeast of Missoula. The facilities at Lubrecht include a modern research-extension laboratory and living accommodations. The College also operates the Bandy Ranch in Ovando, Montana. This operation consists of 3,500 acres of forest, rangeland and small pothole lakes. The ranch is dedicated to a research and demonstration mission. Also available to graduate students is the research facility at the University's Flathead Lake Biological Station located on Yellow Bay near Bigfork, and the Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Ranch, owned by the Boone and Crockett Club, near Dupuyer, which is north of Choteau along the Rocky Mountain Front.
The College houses a Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Laboratory, the National Center for Landscape Fire Analysis, Numerical Terradynamic Simulation Group, the Inland Northwest Growth and Yield Cooperative, the Bolle Center for People and Forests, the Wilderness Institute, the Institute for Tourism and Recreation Research, a Peace Corps graduate program, the Grizzly Bear Recovery Project, and other research laboratories. Additionally, the Montana Cooperative Wildlife Research Unit and a National Biological Cooperative Research Unit are located on campus. A Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit provides opportunities for joint research with multiple federal and other university partners.
Much of the land in western Montana is managed by federal and state governments. Graduate students have the opportunity to become well acquainted with the operations of public land management agencies, many of which actively sponsor student and faculty research projects. The main offices of the U.S. Forest Service (Region One), the Lolo National Forest Supervisor's Office, the Arthur Carhart National Wilderness Training Center, and the Montana State Forester are located in Missoula, as are divisional offices of Bureau of Land Management and the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks. U.S. Forest Service research installations in the vicinity include the Rocky Mountain Research Station's Forestry Sciences Laboratory and Aldo Leopold Wilderness Institutes on campus, and the Intermountain Fire Science Laboratory. Additionally, the U.S. Forest Service Equipment Development Center located at Fort Missoula, and the Aerial Fire Depot/Smokejumper Center are located near the Missoula airport. Other private organizations in the Missoula area include offices of the Boone and Crockett Club, National Wildlife Federation, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Alliance for the Wild Rockies and many others.
There are also substantial opportunities for students to examine the operational and managerial functions of the forest products companies located in or near Missoula. While attention often focuses on public lands issues, there are about 80 million acres of private forest and rangelands in Montana. The interface of public and private lands provides a valuable context for research and education.
| Program |
Degree Offered |
| Ecosystem Management |
M.E.M. |
| Forestry |
M.S.; Ph.D. |
| Recreation Management |
M.S. |
| Resource Conservation |
M.S. |
|
Resource Conservation
(International Conservation and Development)
|
M.S. |
| Wildlife Biology |
M.S. |
| Fish and Wildlife Biology |
Ph.D |
|
Wilderness Management
|
Certificate
|
Degrees Offered
|
Forestry and Conservation
|
College of Forestry and Conservation
Department website
Campus Location
Forestry 109A
Federal Express Delivery - Street Address
College of Forestry and Conservation
Attn: Graduate Applications
32 Campus Drive #0576
Missoula, MT 59812-0576
(406) 243-5521
Fax: (406) 243-4845
request.forestry@cfc.umt.edu
Graduate Application Coordinator
Wendy Maltonic, Database Administrator and Federal Liason
(406) 243-6655
_________________________________________________________
Campus Location
Forestry Building, Room 311C
Federal Express Delivery - Street Address
Wildlife Biology
32 Campus Drive #0596
Missoula, MT 59812-0596
(406) 243-5292
Fax: (406) 243-4557
Graduate Application Coordinator
Jeanne Franz
(406) 243-5292
jeanne.franz@umontana.edu
Program information last updated 5/12
