Undergraduate Programs
Recreation Resources Management Track (Adobe PDF document)
The field of recreation resources management is changing in the 21st century. A graduate of our program can be expected to work with the many and diverse groups of citizens who use public parks and forest for recreation. Outdoor recreation continues to grow in local communities and on our nation's public lands. But the 21st century is also creating new challenges for public land managers seeking to provide more and better recreation opportunities while also protecting our natural resources. Our graduates will work with 'gateway communities' to balance protection of public lands with the development surrounding them. Our graduates also will assist local communities to participate in the decision-making processes that guide public land management in their region. Our graduates will fight fires while working with local areas to reduce wildfire problems, participate in exotic species reduction in parks and contribute to the reintroduction of endangered species on public lands. Our graduates will also assist the public in understanding the ecological features and values of the lands they help manage. Our graduates are part of a new renaissance of professionalism in outdoor recreation and public land management.
Your Career Options In A Few Words
Your major in Recreation Resources Management will open up career choices in a wide range of fields related to public land management. You can become a park ranger, natureal history interpreter or with an additional complimentary major a resource management specialist.
You can become a park ranger or recreation specialist for such agencies as the National Park Service, U. S. Forest Service, and Bureau of Land Management, Corp of Engineers or Tennessee Valley Authority.
You can work for an ever-expanding local, county or state recreation agency or private organization in your home state or throughout the 50 states as well.
You can work for a non profit organization like a land trust or the private sector.
Preparing properly, you will enhance people's opportunities to enjoy the outdoors at home or at one of our nation's parks, forests or recreation areas. You will be entrusted to protect and preserve our parks and forests while providing for the enjoyment of people as they pursue a wide variety of recreation experiences on these lands. You will help formulatethe plans and management goals for public parks and forests and engage in public debate about these goals and plans. Your stock in trade will be a solid background in the social, biological and human resource management sciences and the communication skills essential to careers working with the public.
What You Will Study
The primary goal of the major is to prepare Recreation Resources Management students to work in a public resource management agency at the local, county, state or federal level or a variety of for-profit and non-profit organizations. Three core areas of instruction help prepare students for recreation management careers. The first area provides a foundation in natural resources, including the natural sciences-forestry, wildlife, soils and environmental studies; the second area includes people and policy training (social sciences and humanities); the third area involves human resource management (communications, business skills, planning, leadership and community development). The flexibility of the major and the foundation in natural sciences allow students to double major in areas like forestry, wildlife, soils or pursuing an environmental studies certificate without delaying graduation. Professional development in the classroom includes visits by park and forest rangers, resource management specialists and park supervisors who offer personal experiences and professional advice on career paths.
Experience Outside The Classroom
Recreation Resources Management majors can obtain a variety of pre-professional and professional experiences outside of the classroom while gaining credit as part of their degree program. These work experiences provide valuable exposure to the real world of recreation resources management. Our majors have served in park ranger, natural interpretation and resource management positions in parks and forests from Alaska to the White Mountains of New Hampshire to numerous public lands in between. Interns have been exposed to management issues ranging from staff supervision, budget preparation, facilities maintenance, planning, public affairs and resource management. In addition, all students work as a member of a team on a practical project for a park or other land management agency in the nearby area while earning class credit.
Several courses include field trips to parks, forests and other public recreation areas to gain first-hand exposure to the day-to-day details of managing people and resources.
All students complete a comprehensive three-week field course in forest and public land management at the Kemp Natural Resources Station located on the shores of Lake Tomahawk in north central Wisconsin. Students learn basic forest and resource management skills on the adjoining 200,000 acre Northern Highland-American Legion State Forest.
Students have the option to take a ten-day tour of forest resource management activities, including Fish and Wildlife Refuges, national forests and private industrial landsin the Southern United States during spring break.
Students gain on-the-job experience and academic credit through an internship with a local, county, state, or federal park or forest, or a non-profit organization.
The Forestry Club regularly sponsors outside classroom opportunities leading to skill certification in such areas as wildlandfirecontrol, CPR, equipment safety, First Aid, and Life Saving.
Updated: 2008.04.14