Forestry, Wildlife and Natural Resources Degree
Offered at: Larimer
If you love nature and the outdoors, are interested in the environment, and could see yourself enjoying a career in the diverse natural resources field, FRCC’s Forestry, Wildlife, and Natural Resources Program may be perfect for you. The program provides students many hands-on opportunities for field work. Students gain practical skills in forestry, wildlife, fisheries, wild land fire, recreation, and geographic information systems.
Forestry Degrees 
Students can choose from one degree and seven certificates offered at the Larimer Campus in Ft. Collins.
- Forestry, Wildlife, and Natural Resources for Transfer
Earn an A.G.S. degree if you intend to transfer into a baccalaureate program, such as one of Colorado State University’s majors within the Warner College of Natural Resources. Students should meet with an advisor to select courses based on their transfer objectives.
- Forestry, Wildlife, and Natural Resources (A.A.S. degree)
Be prepared for a wide range of careers in natural resources. Students gain practical skills in forestry, wildlife, aquaculture, fisheries, wildland fire and the computer analysis of natural resources. Students participate in community natural resources projects. See required courses and Natural Resources course descriptions.
Forestry Certificates
Certificates are ideal for students who wish to specialize in an area, explore career possibilities, or enhance a degree that they have already.
Transfer to Colorado State University or another four-year institution
Many students in FRCC’s Forestry, Wildlife, and Natural Resources Program wish to continue their natural resources education at a four-year institution. After earning the A.G.S., many transfer to the Warner College of Natural Resources at Colorado State University, which offers the most comprehensive natural resources program in the country. FRCC and CSU’s Warner College of Natural Resources have partnered to make the process of transferring to CSU streamlined and simple. See CSU's course transfer guide.
Gain field experience, do interesting research
FRCC’s Forestry, Wildlife, and Natural Resources Program offers students a variety of opportunities to apply classroom knowledge in the field. Students participate in field experiences at the following locations:
- Red Feather Lakes 100-acre school forest – Students do timber cruising, soil studies, and snowshoe hare counts for the Colorado lynx reintroduction project.
- Swift Ponds – Students conduct wildlife habitat management and fisheries research at Swift Ponds, a 240-acre property in Fort Collins operated by Colorado Youth Outdoors.
- Horsetooth Mountain Park – Our Forestry Field Research class is taught at Horsetooth Mountain Park, where students work in 10 study plots, doing everything from deer pellet counts to entomology to studying forest management practices. The course includes sawyer training for forest management and connects students to wildland firefighting opportunities.
View Community, Cameras and Conservation to see photos from our Mountain Lion cameras at Horsetooth Mountain Park and Lory State Park. This project is part of our on-going research study on the popluations, trends and distribution of mountion lions in the Front Range.
A variety of unique opportunities
Other interesting opportunities available to Forestry, Wildlife, and Natural Resources students include:
- Our Communities, Cameras, and Conservation project is a non-invasive research study that uses wildlife cameras to capture data at Horsetooth Mountain Park and Lory State Park by monitoring wildlife and mountain lion trends.
- Honors Introduction to Forestry – Students can take NRE 100 as an embedded honors course. The honors option requires students to conduct mountain lion research and verbenone flake research on the mountain pine beetle. Learn more about the Larimer Campus Honors Program.
- Faculty-led travel field study programs. The next field study travel opportunity will be offered in June 2012 to Cordova, Alaska .
- Red Card certification – Students can earn a Red Card qualification card through FRCC’s collaboration with Larimer County Emergency Services. Red Card holders may be dispatched to fight wildfires.
- Society of American Foresters – This award-winning student group offers community involvement opportunities, a fishing derby, wildlife habitat projects, and much more.