Not many people realize that the College of Natural Resources is the third largest college on campus. With nine undergraduate programs, multiple outdoor campuses across the state, various clubs and organizations and over $10,000,000 put into research funding, CNR creats a great reputation for itself at the University of Idaho.
According to a professor of natural resource policy, Dennis Becker, Ph.D., “The College of Natural Resources was ranked number one in value for education in 2018, and continues to be ranked among the top 10 natural resources colleges in America by College Factual. Many of our individual programs are recognized as among the best.”
For those who are interested in CNR, there are quite a few routes to take major-wise. The undergraduate majors include: ecology, conservation biology, environmental science, fire ecology and management, fishery resources, forest and sustainable products, forestry, rangeland ecology and management and wildlife resources. There are also multiple minors and certificates, as well as graduate programs. Something unique about CNR is that it has the first three associate degrees offered at UI. One of these is wildland fire management, which is an online degree. This allows for firefighters to pursue an associate’s degree while still fighting fires.
There are experimental forests here in Moscow, such as the Pitkin Forest Nursery. The Pitkin Forest Nursery is the only operational research nursery at a university in the United States. There are also other outdoor classrooms outside of this community. The Frank Church Wilderness is 2.4 million acres of federally-designated wilderness, and UI has a 65 acre campus embedded in it. The McCall Field Campus is another asset that CNR utilizes. It started out as a 10-week field based training in 1940, and every CNR student was required to go. It morphed over the years and became a three-week course for forestry students, eventually stopping the training program. Around 2001, they started an outdoor science school for K–12. A few years later, they added a graduate program where graduate students were learning their teaching practices while serving the program by teaching K–12 outdoor schools.
NR 101: Exploring Natural Resources, is a class for first-year students. During this course students learn about natural resources majors and careers. They also take a weekend trip to the McCall field campus and experience a real outdoor classroom.
“a way to get outside and exercise…”
For nearly every CNR degree program, there is a club or association for it. The Logger Sports Club is one of these. Students participate in competitions throughout the Northwest in events such as pole climbing, obstacle pole, ax throwing and more. Delaney Snaadt is the secretary and the safety officer for this club. She is a senior studying wildlife resources, with a minor in natural resource conservation. For Delaney, the club is “a way to get outside and exercise, getting to go outside and just whale on a piece of firewood, or throw an ax, or run a chainsaw is really fun. And it’s a lot of practical skills, so some of our team members are forestry students so they get a lot of practical hands-on work with chainsaws.”
Photo Courtesy of Scott Campbell
Among the different Living Learning Communities (LLC), on campus there is the CNR building. There are many advantages to living in the CNR LLC. You can gain strong relationships with other residents with similar interests. Because residents often share many of their classes, it is easy to form study groups and work collaboratively.
Steve Hacker is the chief operations officer for CNR. He oversees all of the base operations, the financial administrative operations, assets and campuses throughout the state. “Everybody here has a real passion for the natural world that we live in, in one way or another. And if you have that passion, you’re going to find people here that have that same passion. You’ll also find a job,” Hacker said. “If you have a passion for it and you earn a degree here, we don’t necessarily have 100% placement, but we’re as close to 100% placement in the beginner degree field. So if you study forestry here and you want a job in forestry, you will get a job in forestry.”
UI’s excellent CNR program includes hands-on learning, countless involvement opportunities and experienced educators, and continues to produce valuable workers in the field of natural resources.
“We provide critical science-based knowledge, technology and leadership that educates, supports and inspires our society,” Hacker said. “We value the integrity of the earth’s biodiversity, ecosystems and heritage. We play a leadership role in empowering present and future generations to make informed resource management decisions for a prosperous and sustainable future.”
