Bachelor in Forestry

Our forestry program provides students with the knowledge to sustain and manage the diverse forest resources that make up local and regional landscapes. In addition, students choose in one of ten emphasis areas their senior year: forest biology, land management, forest operations, forest products, urban forestry, business, wildlife management, spatial analysis, policy, and a scholar’s option.

For a hands-on introduction to field work, students in the forestry program spend the summer between their second and third years at our summer practicum program held at the Solon Dixon Forestry Education Center outside Andalusia, Alabama.

The objectives of the forestry curriculum are to provide: 1) the fundamental knowledge regarding the resources that professional foresters typically manage and the multiple uses, sustaining, and conservation of those resources; 2) a general education integrating physical, social and biological sciences to prepare the forester for the role as steward of public and private forest resources; and 3) training and skills needed for initial forestry employment, as well as for advancement to higher levels of managerial responsibility. The forestry degree is appropriate for students who seek employment in any aspect of forest resource management, from forest industry lands where timber production is typically the primary objective, to private non-industrial properties where multiple use predominates, to public lands where recreation or environmental protection is often paramount. The curriculum emphasizes biological, ecological, environmental, social, economic, and ethical considerations in forest management.

The bachelor’s programs in forestry are accredited by the Society of American Foresters (SAF). SAF is the accrediting body recognized by the Council on Higher Education Accreditation as the accrediting agency for forestry education in the United States. Graduation from such SAF-accredited programs is required of all applicants for Registered Forester status in Alabama and several other states.

Auburn’s forestry program was first established as the joint Department of Horticulture-Forestry in 1946. In 1947, the Department of Forestry was created in the School of Agriculture and later accredited by the Society of American Foresters. In 1984, the department was awarded “School” status in recognition of its growing prominence in research, outreach, and undergraduate and graduate education. Fifteen years later, Auburn’s Department of Wildlife Sciences merged with the School of Forestry to create what is now the Auburn University School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences (SFWS).

Today, the SFWS offers undergraduate and graduate degree programs in a variety of natural resources disciplines. Our core undergraduate degree programs include Forestry, Wildlife Ecology and Management, Wildlife Pre-Veterinary Medicine Concentration, and Natural Resources Management, as well as graduate degrees at the master’s and PhD levels. In recent years, SFWS curricula has expanded beyond its core programs with the adoption of 3 new undergraduate degrees, including the Geospatial and Environmental Informatics, Sustainable Biomaterials and Packaging, and Wildlife Enterprise Management programs. The SFWS has also expanded to offer distance education and online learning platforms with the availability of an online non-thesis master’s degree and professional certification programs in the areas of Restoration Ecology, One Health, and Forest Finance and Investment. Since the launch of these programs, SFWS undergraduate and graduate student enrollment has increased nearly 50 percent, respectively.