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Forests
Forests are among
the world's most important resources. They cleanse the air, contribute
vitally to water quality, protect the soil, provide habitats for wildlife,
provide renewable raw materials for energy, shelter, and paper products,
and offer recreational opportunities that enhance the quality of human
life. Forests cover 21 percent of the earth's land surface, about one-third
of the land in the United States, 90 percent of New England, and 89 percent
of Maine--the most heavily forested state in the country. |
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Forestry
Forestry is an applied
science that involves managing forest ecosystems within increasingly complex
social environments. A challenging, demanding profession, forestry applies
forest ecosystem sciences, management sciences, and communications skills
to the conservation and management of forest resources to meet society's
ever increasing needs for commodities, services, and a healthy environment. |
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Foresters
Foresters are professional
men and women who understand the many different aspects of managing natural
and human elements of forest systems. Forestry requires a broad education.
Biological and physical sciences provide the basis for evaluating the complex
interactions of forest ecosystems. Social sciences provide understanding
of how humans value forest conditions and forest-based products and services.
Management sciences help foresters to match human needs and desires with
the sustainable capabilities of forests. |
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The
Forestry Curriculum
The four-year curriculum,
accredited by the Society of American Foresters, requires completion of
128 credits of coursework. In addition to the University's general education
requirements in science, human values, communications, and mathematics,
the curriculum includes forest-oriented courses in biology, soil science,
measurements, mapping, inventory, protection, ecology, tree culture, economics,
policy, and administration. These are combined into an integrated approach
to the management of forests for desired, sustainable conditions that respond
to society's demands for a healthy forest environment, wood-based products,
wildlife habitats, recreational opportunities, and water resources. The
formal program of study is listed below. |
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Employment
in Forestry
The University of
Maine's Forestry program provides a very broad education.
Foresters
are employed in a wide range of positions, but most work with some aspect
of forest resources management.
Federal agencies
(such as the United States Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management,
and the National Park Service) manage 20 percent of the timberland in the
United States. State natural resources agencies, which manage seven percent,
hire foresters to manage state forest lands and to provide advice to owners
of small woodland properties. Forest industries, which own 13 percent of
the timberland, are major employers (especially in Maine, which ranks third
in the U.S. in industrial forest acreage than any other state). An increasing
number of forestry graduates become independent consultants, serving mostly
nonindustrial private forestland owners, such as the thousands who own
about half of Maine's timberland. Fifty-eight percent of all of the timberland
in the U.S. is in such ownerships. As the people of Maine, the United
States, and the world increase their demands on forests, the need for foresters
will continue. |
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Click
here for a complete list of UMaine Courses
