September 2000, Volume 1, Issue 1

The forestry program at UC Berkeley started in 1914 as a Division within Berkeley's College of Agriculture and with Walter Mulford as head. The first BS and MS degrees were awarded in 1917. In 1939, the program was reorganized as the Department of Forestry which in 1947 became the School of Forestry. A Ph.D. program was added in 1960. In 1969, the MS and Ph.D. programs in forestry were broadened and replaced by a graduate program in Wildland Resource Science; the professional Master of Forestry degree (MF) remained separate. In 1974, the School of Forestry and the College of Agricultural Sciences merged to become the College of Natural Resources (CNR) with much of the forestry research and teaching residing in a new Department of Forestry and Resource Management. The professionally accredited program in forestry continued throughout this entire period.

In 1992 the College of Natural Resources reorganized again, setting up four departments with much of the forestry program in a large, new Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management (ESPM). A new graduate program called Environmental Science, Policy and Management replaced Wildland Resource Science. After several reorganizations of ESPM the department now includes four divisions: Forest Science, Ecosystem Science, Resource Institutions Policy and Management, and Insect Biology. The forestry teaching and research program spans all four divisions as well as other departments in the College.

Cooperative Extension (CE, formerly Agricultural Extension) has been a part of forestry at Berkeley since 1926, with members of the systemwide Extension Forestry program assigned to the campus. With the decentralization of CE in 1987, the Extension faculty have become formal members of the campus departments. This has strengthened the ties between research development and implementation and given the various departments and divisions working in forestry a formal extension mission. The campus-based Extension faculty work closely with the local natural resource programs delivered by county CE offices throughout the state. Beginning in 1996, an associate dean for forestry became part of the Dean's office in CNR to provide leadership and coordination for the research, teaching, and extension programs in forestry. At the same time research and extension functions, including management of the five research forest properties in the College, were assigned to a newly formed Center for Forestry.

Currently, there are over 50 members of the "Faculty of Forestry" (listed in the box on this page) who are spread throughout the Berkeley Campus, within county CE offices, and on the Davis Campus. Most of the ecologically-oriented faculty (forest ecology, soils, atmospheric science, range ecology, and wildlife management) are housed in the Division of Ecosystem Sciences. The social science faculty (sociology, economics, management science) are in both the Division of Resource Institutions, Policy and Management as well as the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Policy. Insect Biology is the home to the forest entomology faculty. The Forest Science Division is the academic home for faculty with an interest in managing forest structure to accomplish goals and objectives of society (wildland fire, silviculture, forest health).

The Society of American Foresters accredited undergraduate program in forestry qualifies for the educational requirement for licensing as a Registered Professional Forester in the state. The MF degree provides an additional year of experience for RPF licensing. The Forestry Panel (identified by an asterisk in the list of faculty) provides general oversight over the forestry major, and is composed of faculty in many of the Divisions and Departments of CNR.

There are currently five endowed chairs or distinguished professorships in the broad area of forestry. These have been developed with the support of alumni and friends of the forestry program. The funds used to create these endowments are used by the faculty holders of the chairs or distinguished professorships to enhance their research, teaching, and service. The chairs are: The Rudy Grah Chair in Sustainable Forestry, the A. Starker Leopold Chair in Wildlife Management, the S.J. Hall Chair in Forest Economics, the Haydn Reinecker Distinguished Professorship in Forest Genetics, and the Henry Vaux Distinguished Professorship in Forest Policy.

Within the broad UC system, the forestry program at Berkeley is a part of the Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources (DANR), which is part of UC's Agricultural Experiment Station. DANR is responsible for agricultural and natural resource research programs, the CE program on the Davis, Riverside and Berkeley campuses, and the CE offices in every county in the state.

Forestry enters the new millennium at Cal with a strong base of outstanding researchers and educators, and enthusiastic students. Forestry is part of the core strength of the College and has a unique capacity to evaluate forested ecosystems focusing on ecological dynamics, human interactions, and management systems. We are committed to maintaining a strong program with an emphasis on academic excellence and a tie to the profession. In continuing these efforts we particularly appreciate the involvement of Cal. Alumni Foresters and other forestry professionals and groups with an interest in forestry.

*Faculty who are members of the Forestry Panel and involved in directing the Forestry Major