FORESTRY
Associate of Science Degree (A.S.)
Bachelor of Science Degree (B.S.)
Located at the feet of the Mission Mountains, home of the first Tribal Wilderness in the United States, Salish Kootenai College is surrounded by 300,000 acres of tribally managed forest and is in close proximity to scenic national forests, as well as state and commercial timber industry land.
The Forestry Program at SKC will set you on the path to a career in multiple resource forest management. By learning the basics of plant growth, forest ecology and the principles and practices of sustainable forest management, you will become qualified for a job with a tribal, state or federal forest resource management agency. SKC’s Forestry Program is one of the only ones in the country that emphasizes the relationship between the forest, tribal sovereignty and cultural preservation.
A two-plus-two program, the Forestry Program offers a two-year Associate of Science degree that will provide you with the skills needed to be a forestry technician. After completing the two-year degree, you can continue on for a Bachelor of Science in Forestry degree that gives you the knowledge necessary to begin a career as a professional forester or to enter into graduate school.
Associate of Science Degree, Forestry
The Associate of Science (A.S.) Degree in Forestry will give you the solid background you need to gather and interpret information concerning forest resources. The courses will provide a foundation of basic skills in plant identification, habitat typing and forest management and then build on these skills to integrate them into ecologically informed forest management decision-making.
Throughout the two-year degree, students will work on their writing, mathematics and public speaking skills, as well as becoming knowledgeable about issues in tribal culture, government and economics.
Bachelor of Science Degree, Forestry
The Bachelor of Science (B.S.) Degree in Forestry builds upon the technical skills learned in the first two years of coursework, creating the depth of knowledge necessary to launch a career as a professional forester. Advanced courses in forest ecology, fire ecology, forest management and silviculture will strengthen the skills learned during the A.S. coursework and provide you with the tools needed to understand and implement ecologically based forest management. At the same time, courses in wildlife ecology, water resource management, range management, restoration ecology, and recreation management will provide a broad understanding of multiple resource management
There will be many opportunities to visit with professional foresters, especially those working for the Confederated Salish Kootenai Tribal Forestry Department, and to see, different aspects of multiple resource forest management.
Throughout the last two years, you will continue to develop skills in mathematics, writing, communication and tribal culture, government and issues related to tribal sovereignty. A senior seminar class will focus specifically on issues related to management of tribal forests.
As part of your Bachelor’s degree, you will be able to develop and sharpen your skills through internships and research opportunities offered by the college, tribal forestry departments or a federal agency such as the US Forest Service. This internship will be the basis for your Senior Thesis, a work of original research on a topic of interest to you. |
