Forestry: Forest Ecosystem Analysis

An integrated field course that focuses on acquiring skills to investigate, through quantification and interpretation, the flora, fauna, and abiotic components (soils, physiography, water, and microclimate) of forest ecosystems. Also covers consulting forestry, timber markets, industrial and family forestry, forest roads, timber inventory, and visits wood processing facilities. Prerequisite: FOR 3330.

4-week intensive field course with in person meetings with one overnight trip to the Adirondacks, NY MTWRFS May 19 - June 6, 2025 in person; Pre-work required; Prereqs: FOR 3330 Management of Forest Woodlots1 or taken Spring '25 as FOR 3990:A Woodlot Manage&Forest

The class is scheduled Monday – Saturday, 8am – 6pm and we will be outside every day, rain or shine. Always bring your Newcomb’s Wildflower Guide and your tools (your angle gauge, compass, and Biltmore stick). The purpose of this course is to give you an intensive, outdoor, hands-on practical forestry experience. Through practice, you will enhance the skills and knowledge that you have learned in your forestry classes so far: NREA I and II, dendrology, silviculture, ecology, soils, woodlot management, and GIS. You will also develop new skills and knowledge: identification of herbaceous species and wildlife, natural community mapping, reading the landscape, practicing urban forestry, and running a forestry consulting business. Along the way, you will make contacts with practicing professionals who are using the latest science to conserve and to manage forests in a sustainable way. We will see some behind-the-scenes action in forestry: active logging on a large and small scale, as well as wood processing in sawmills and paper mills, among others.

By the end of this course, students will be able to: • Use their understanding of forestry equipment and measurement techniques to carry out accurate forest inventories and to study forest ecosystems • Understand and practice critical aspects of the work done by consulting foresters, conservation organization forest land managers, city and county foresters • Demonstrate competency in field skills necessary for a successful career as a forester • Have an understanding of land use history, and be able to read the forested landscape • Communicate information on the practical aspects of forest management and conservation

Grades are based on: 1) active daily participation and professional interaction with guest leaders; 10% of final grade 2) daily upload of your detailed notes. A scan is best, esp. with a scanner or scanner app like the Adobe Scan app that combine the multiple pages into one document. That way you have a convenient digital backup; 10% 3) various assignments, usually based on a reading or a day’s activity and requiring a page or two of writing or map-making or data collection, entry, analysis, and write-up; 10% 4) three open book exams on Blackboard, at the end of each week, based on what was learned that week. To do well, all you need is to be paying attention and taking good notes at all times; 30% (10% each exam) 5) a final closed book in-person exam testing a variety of skills acquired here and in earlier courses (e.g., dendrology; herbaceous species ID; animal ID and animal sounds ID; unit conversions; measurements; estimating dbh, height, distance, azimuth, area, etc.); 40%.