Help people connect with nature through tourism and recreation

A bachelor’s degree in Parks, Tourism, and Recreation Management (PTRM) at UM prepares you to work in the world’s most beautiful places with federal and state agencies, non-profits, and nature-based tourism operators that manage and steward our wildest landscapes. You will develop skills and gain knowledge that helps connect people to place, manage park visitation, provide environmental interpretation, and integrate conservation sciences into recreation and tourism planning. PTRM offers an experiential education, professional development to diverse career pathways, and personal mentoring with faculty to chart your trajectory into one of the nation’s fastest growing industries. Experience the national parks and wilderness areas that make Missoula and Montana the ideal place to study wildland management in the heart of the Rocky Mountains.

Careers

Students in the PTRM program find careers in many fields of recreation and tourism management, including as park interpreters, river rangers, backcountry rangers, wilderness managers, and recreation planners. When you graduate, you will find career opportunities with many federal land and resource-oriented agencies, including the U.S. Forest Service, the National Park Service, the Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Graduates also find positions in state natural resource agencies such as Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks. You might also work with private and non-profit organizations such as nature preserves, educational organizations, camps and resorts, hospitality and resort associations, visitor and convention bureaus, outfitters/guides, and resorts, as well as at state and federal land management agencies and tourism boards/offices. Students are also well prepared to enter graduate degree programs, especially in natural resource-oriented departments. 

Degree Requirements

To earn a degree in Parks, Tourism, and Recreation Management at the W.A. Franke College of Forestry and Conservation, you must complete general degree requirements and may choose one of tracks listed below.

A total of 120 credits are required to graduate from the University of Montana. 39 credits must be upper-division (300-level or higher). A total of 36 traditional letter-graded semester credits are required in the W.A. Franke College of Forestry and Conservation, of which a minimum of 20 credits must be taken in an approved major within the college.

PTRM majors are required to fulfill 400 hours of approved work experience and fulfill an internship learning requirement (PTRM 498 — view internship guidelines)

Study Abroad

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Advising

Schedule an appointment with your academic advisor through Navigate. Watch the helpful video where you can see how the system works. Then, click on the Navigate for Students button at the bottom of the page.  If the office hours listed won’t work for you, please email your advisor directly to see what other days/time might work. 

Nola Moudry
Professional Advisor, W.A. Franke College of Forestry & Conservation 
nola.moudry@umontana.edu

We can help you change a major, add or delete a minor, contact your faculty advisor, find scholarship information, and use Cyberbear to plan your class schedule and register.