Degree Offered
- Bachelor of Science in Forestry
Nature of the Program
In sustainable forestry, we balance the growing demand for forest products with the value of wildlands and public spaces for recreation, wildlife habitat, watershed protection, aesthetics, and the protection of the environment. A dedicated, dynamic and diverse faculty in the Forestry program offers a curriculum that provides scientific, technical, and managerial knowledge needed by professionals managing our sustainable forest resources. As the third most forested state in the U.S., West Virginia's forests are our outdoor classroom.
Visit the Forest Resources Management major page for more information or contact the program coordinator Dr. Steve Chhin at forestry@mail.wvu.edu. If you are in the area, visit our Forest Resources Management office 337 Percival Hall, 1145 Evansdale Drive, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV 26506-6125.
Curriculum Structure
The curriculum is accredited by the Society of American Foresters (SAF) which means that there is a nationwide recognition of the quality of courses offered in this degree. The degree encompasses 120 credit hours of coursework. Required courses in biological, physical, and social sciences, English language, and mathematics form the foundation for core courses in the science and practice of managing and conserving forests and associated natural resources. Ample field experience is provided in a five-week summer field practice and in the laboratories in many of the forestry courses.
In addition to the core forestry curriculum, students select one Area of Emphasis to develop competence in specialized areas:
- Forest Management
- Forest Ecosystem Science & Sustainability
- Arboriculture & Urban Forestry
Students can also pursue minors in Recreation, Conservation Ecology, Wood Science or one of the many other minors available at WVU.
Extracurricular opportunities comprise joining one of our clubs: Arboriculture, Society of American Foresters, Timbersports team, or Women in Natural Resources.
Career Opportunities
A Bachelor of Science in Forestry is the path to a variety of careers. Many graduates become professional forest resource managers with government agencies, such as the USDA Forest Service and state forestry services. Graduates who work for these agencies carry out conservation practices on public lands like state parks, national forests, and range lands. Others help private woodlands owners reach their timber, wildlife, water, and recreation objectives.
WVU Forestry graduates are also employed by the forest industry producing lumber, paper, or engineered wood products. Other graduates find careers in utility forestry or become natural resources managers for oil and gas companies in the Appalachian region, and some move on to graduate degrees.
As a forester, you can expect to spend time in the field estimating the volume and value of timberland areas, planning and supervising timber harvesting operations, protecting forest from fire, insects, and disease, and managing forests for health and resilience. Managerial work includes; developing plans for providing carbon credits to landowners, developing sustainable forest management plans, and managing forests for multiple uses including recreation, timber, watershed, wildlife, and environmental protection.
Urban foresters work for city governments, private companies, or nonprofit organizations to increase urban canopy coverage, promote urban ecosystem services, maintain healthy trees, or minimize the impacts of development. Our graduates are also employed by national or local tree care company. They climb and pruning trees, planting trees, and care for urban tree health by diagnosing and treating pest & disease.
General Education Foundations
Please use this link to view a list of courses that meet each GEF requirement.
NOTE: Some major requirements will fulfill specific GEF requirements. Please see the curriculum requirements listed below for details on which GEFs you will need to select.
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| General Education Foundations | ||
| F1 - Composition & Rhetoric | 3-6 | |
| Introduction to Composition and Rhetoric and Composition, Rhetoric, and Research | ||
or ENGL 103 | Accelerated Academic Writing | |
| F2A/F2B - Science & Technology | 4-6 | |
| F3 - Math & Quantitative Reasoning | 3-4 | |
| F4 - Society & Connections | 3 | |
| F5 - Human Inquiry & the Past | 3 | |
| F6 - The Arts & Creativity | 3 | |
| F7 - Global Studies & Diversity | 3 | |
| F8 - Focus (may be satisfied by completion of a minor, double major, or dual degree) | 9 | |
| Total Hours | 31-37 | |
Please note that not all of the GEF courses are offered at all campuses. Students should consult with their advisor or academic department regarding the GEF course offerings available at their campus.
Curriculum Requirements
The Writing and Communications Skills requirement in the FRM curriculum is fulfilled through the different major courses that FRM students are required to take, as well as in FRM elective courses. Most of these FNRS courses (e.g., FNRS 212, FNRS 222, FNRS 311/311L, FNRS 330, FMAN 433, FMAN 434) have significant writing components where students are required to prepare full technical reports like laboratory reports, management plan write-ups, and other writing assignments. Most of these writing requirements provide a feedback mechanism to students’ writing (e.g., reports are corrected then given back to students for revisions). In addition to addressing the writing skills of students, some of these courses also require students to deliver oral presentations, particularly in the capstone course (FNRS 434).
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| University Requirements | 17 | |
| Forest Resources Management Program Requirements | 55 | |
| Forest Resources Management Major Requirements | 48 | |
| Total Hours | 120 | |
University Requirements
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| General Education Foundations (GEF) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 (31-37 Credits) | ||
| Outstanding GEF Requirements 1, 6, and 7 | 12 | |
| ANRD 191 | First-Year Seminar | 1 |
| General Electives | 4 | |
| Total Hours | 17 | |
Forest Resource Management Program Requirements
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| All required FNRS courses must be completed with a minimum grade of C- or better. | ||
| Math and Science Coursework | ||
| Select one of the following: | 4 | |
| General Biology 1 and General Biology 1 Laboratory | ||
| Principles of Biology and Principles of Biology Laboratory | ||
| Select one of the following: | 4 | |
| Survey of General, Organic, and Biological Chemistry 1 and Survey of Chemistry 1 Laboratory | ||
| Fundamentals of Chemistry 1 and Fundamentals of Chemistry 1 Laboratory | ||
| MATH 124 | Algebra with Applications (or MATH 150 based on placement**) | 3 |
| Additional Math or Science Course | 3 | |
| General Biology 2 and General Biology 2 Laboratory | ||
| Environmental Biology and Environmental Biology Laboratory | ||
| Survey of General Organic Biological Chemistry 2 and Survey of Chemistry 2 Laboratory | ||
| Global Climate System and Global Climate System Laboratory | ||
| Digital Earth and Digital Earth Laboratory | ||
| Planet Earth and Planet Earth Laboratory | ||
| Plane Trigonometry | ||
| Applied Calculus | ||
| Non-Math and Science Program Requirements | ||
| ESWS 202 & 202L | Principles of Soil Science and Principles of Soil Science Laboratory | 4 |
| COMM 104 | Fundamentals of Public Communication | 3 |
| ECON 201 | Principles of Microeconomics | 3 |
| or ARE 150 | Introductory Agricultural and Agribusiness Economics | |
| FNRS 212 & 212L | Forest Ecology and Forest Ecology Laboratory | 4 |
| FNRS 222 & 222L | Forest Mensuration and Forest Mensuration Laboratory | 4 |
| FNRS 140 | West Virginia's Natural Resources | 3 |
| FNRS 205 & 205L | Dendrology and Dendrology Laboratory | 3 |
| FNRS 206L | Winter Dendrology Laboratory | 1 |
| FNRS 223 & 223L | Wood Anatomy and Structure and Wood Anatomy and Structure Laboratory | 3 |
| FNRS 240 & 240L | Introduction to Computing in Natural Resources and Introduction to Computing in Natural Resources Laboratory | 3 |
| PLSC 206 & 206L | Principles of Plant Science and Principles of Plant Science Laboratory | 4 |
| STAT 211 | Elementary Statistical Inference | 3 |
| WMAN 150 | Principles of Conservation Ecology | 3 |
| or WMAN 200 | Restoration Ecology | |
| Total Hours | 55 | |
Forest Resources Management Major Requirements
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| A minimum GPA of 2.0 is required for all Forest Resources Management major courses. | ||
| All required FNRS courses and all courses completing the required AOE must be completed with a minimum grade of C- or better. | ||
| Choose from one of the following: | 4 | |
| Forest Pest Management | ||
| Forest Pest Management and Forest Pest Management Laboratory | ||
| FNRS 444 | Watershed Management | 3 |
| FNRS 311 & 311L | Silvicultural Systems and Silvicultural Systems Laboratory | 4 |
| FNRS 330 | Principles of Forestry Economics | 4 |
| FNRS 400 | Forest Resources Management Field Practice | 6 |
| FNRS 433 | Forest Management | 3 |
| FNRS 434 & 434S | Forest Resources Management Planning and Forest Resources Management Planning Studio | 3 |
| FNRS 326 | Remote Sensing of Environment | 3 |
| FNRS 421 | Renewable Resources Policy and Governance | 3 |
| FNRS 438 | Human Dimensions Natural Resource Management | 3 |
| Required Area of Emphasis | 12 | |
Arboriculture & Urban Forestry | ||
Forest Ecosystem Science and Sustainability | ||
Forest Management | ||
| Total Hours | 48 | |
- *
ENGL 101 and 102 will fulfill 6 credits of GEF 1 requirement. Choosing ENGL 103 will also fulfill 3 credits of GEF 1 requirement. If ENGL 103 is chosen, the student must also choose another 3 credits of ENGL writing course to fulfill the 6 credits ENGL requirements for the FRM curriculum.
- **
Students who place directly into MATH 150 should take that course in place of the MATH 124 requirement.
Suggested Plan of Study
| First Year | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fall | Hours | Spring | Hours | ||
| FNRS 140 | 3 | FNRS 240 & 240L | 3 | ||
| Choose one of the following (GEF 2): | 4 | PLSC 206 & 206L (GEF 8) | 4 | ||
| Choose one of the following (GEF 8): | 4 | ||||
| ENGL 101 (GEF 1) | 3 | ||||
| MATH 124 (GEF 3) | 3 | Additional Science Course | 3 | ||
| ANRD 191 | 1 | ||||
| 14 | 14 | ||||
| Second Year | |||||
| Fall | Hours | Spring | Hours | Summer | Hours |
| FNRS 205 & 205L | 3 | FNRS 212 & 212L | 4 | FNRS 400 | 6 |
| ESWS 202 & 202L | 4 | FNRS 222 & 222L | 4 | ||
| STAT 211 (GEF 8) | 3 | WMAN 150 or 200 | 3 | ||
| ENGL 102 (GEF 1) | 3 | ECON 201 (GEF 4) | 3 | ||
| COMM 104 (GEF 5) | 3 | GEF 6 | 3 | ||
| 16 | 17 | 6 | |||
| Third Year | |||||
| Fall | Hours | Spring | Hours | ||
| FNRS 311 & 311L | 4 | FNRS 330 | 4 | ||
| FNRS 438 | 3 | FNRS 326 | 3 | ||
| FNRS 223 & 223L | 3 | Area of Emphasis Course | 3 | ||
| GEF 7 | 3 | General Elective | 3 | ||
| 13 | 13 | ||||
| Fourth Year | |||||
| Fall | Hours | Spring | Hours | ||
| FNRS 433 | 3 | ENTO 470 or PPTH 470 and PPTH 470L | 4 | ||
| FNRS 421 | 3 | FNRS 206L | 1 | ||
| Area of Emphasis Course | 3 | FNRS 434 & 434S | 3 | ||
| Area of Emphasis Course | 3 | FNRS 444 | 3 | ||
| General Elective | 1 | Area of Emphasis Course | 3 | ||
| 13 | 14 | ||||
| Total credit hours: 120 | |||||
Areas of Emphasis
- Arboriculture & Urban Forestry
- Forest Ecosystem Science and Sustainability
- Forest Management
Arboriculture & Urban Forestry Area of Emphasis
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| All courses that count toward this area of emphasis must be completed with a minimum grade of C-. | ||
| Minimum GPA of 2.0 as required by the Forest Resource Management major. | ||
| Required Courses | ||
| FNRS 355 | Arboriculture-Urban Tree Care | 3 |
| FNRS 423 | Urban Forest Management | 3 |
| Restricted Electives | 6 | |
| Turfgrass Management | ||
| Soil Fertility | ||
| Agribusiness Management | ||
| Plant Physiology and Plant Physiology Laboratory | ||
| Plant Ecology and Plant Ecology Laboratory | ||
| Forest Fire Protection | ||
| Survey of Arboriculture | ||
| Professional Field Experience | ||
| Senior Thesis | ||
| Climate and Sustainability | ||
| Total Hours | 12 | |
Forest Ecosystem Science and Sustainability Area of Emphasis
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| All courses that count toward this area of emphasis must be completed with a minimum grade of C-. | ||
| Minimum GPA of 2.0 as required by the Forest Resource Management major. | ||
| GEOG 415 | Global Environmental Change | 3 |
| Restricted Electives | 9 | |
| Plant Ecology and Plant Ecology Laboratory | ||
| Plant-Microbial Interactions | ||
| Ecosystem Models | ||
| Global Ecology | ||
| Environmental Microbiology and Environmental Microbiology Laboratory | ||
| Professional Field Experience | ||
FNRS 496 | Senior Thesis | |
| Climate and Sustainability | ||
| Open-Source Spatial Analytics | ||
| Environmental Isotopes | ||
| Spatial Hydrology and Watershed Analysis | ||
| Freshwater Ecology and Freshwater Ecology Laboratory | ||
| Total Hours | 12 | |
Forest Management Area of Emphasis
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| All courses that count toward this area of emphasis must be completed with a minimum grade of C-. | ||
| Minimum GPA of 2.0 as required by the Forest Resource Management major. | ||
| FNRS 232 & 232L | Wood Grading and Procurement and Wood Grading and Procurement Laboratory | 3 |
| FNRS 422 & 422L | Harvesting Forest Products and Harvesting Forest Products Laboratory | 3 |
| Restricted Electives | 6 | |
| Forest Fire Protection | ||
| Survey of Arboriculture | ||
| Arboriculture-Urban Tree Care | ||
| Advanced Forest Measurements | ||
| Regional Silviculture | ||
| Urban Forest Management | ||
FNRS 491 | Professional Field Experience | |
FNRS 496 | Senior Thesis | |
| Sugarbush Management and Maple Syrup Production and Sugarbush Management and Maple Syrup Production Laboratory | ||
| Vegetation of West Virginia | ||
| Global Forest Resources | ||
| Total Hours | 12 | |
Major Learning Outcomes
Forest Resources Management
Students graduating from the Forest Resources Management major should be able to:
- Describe, identify and quantify forest ecosystem resources across different parts of the central Appalachian region and different biomes.
- Describe the assemblages of flora and fauna across the landscape and identify patterns and potential impacts of management and restoration activities as they related to freshwater ecosystem services (water quality, quantity, habitat), soils, and ecological principles.
- Explain ecological processes, including the effects of human impacts, as they pertain to the sustainable forest management.
- Develop and evaluate forest management alternatives based on knowledge from forest mensuration, silviculture, forest ecology, forest economics, forest hydrology and soils, and forest policy.
- Quantify forest recourses and predict future growth using growth and yield models.
- Develop a forest management plan for forest landowners and present forest management plan recommendations through technical writing and oral presentation.