The forestry program at what was then called Arizona State College (ASC) was initiated in the fall of 1958. This program owes it existence to the vision and persistence of ASC President J. Lawrence Walkup, as well as to the support of a wide variety of individuals and organizations, such as the politicians John Babbitt and Robert Prochnow, several members of the Arizona Board of Regents, and representatives of the USDA Forest Service and National Park Service, who recognized the need for professional foresters trained in the Southwest. Initially called a department, the program became the School of Forestry in 1963. President Walkup, in his memoir entitled Pride, Promise, Progress: The Development of Northern Arizona University, credited the creation of the School of Forestry with being the first key step in the process of transitioning from a college focused on training teachers to the multi-purpose university that NAU is today.

During its first fall semester, the forestry program consisted of one faculty member, Charles O. Minor, and six students. Fortunately, several scientists who worked with the USDA Forest Service's Rocky Mountain Forest and Range Experiment Station in Flagstaff agreed to help out by teaching forestry courses. Under the able leadership of Dr. Minor, who also became the school's first dean, the program grew rapidly in both the numbers of faculty and students, as well as in reputation.

By 1968, the program had matured sufficiently to gain accreditation by the Society of American Foresters, which it maintains to this day. Another important development in the late 1960s was the initiation of the Master of Science in Forestry degree; the ability to offer a graduate degree at a largely undergraduate institution was another indication of the growing strength and reputation of the school.

In 1972, the "Integrated Curriculum" was implemented. This initially involved three, and now four, intensive semesters taught during the junior and senior years. Instead of single, discipline-specific courses, large blocks of time are devoted to team-taught and integrated instruction, an approach that is unique among forestry schools in the United States.

While the Integrated Curriculum is one of the features of the School of Forestry for which it is best known, the increasing research productivity of the school's faculty and graduate students is also beginning to gain substantial recognition. Two recent studies of research productivity both ranked the School of Forestry in the top ten nationally among forestry schools, based on its per capita productivity as judged by research publications, citations of those papers by other scientists, grants received and other factors. Part of this increase in productivity has been driven by the creation of the doctorate program in forestry, which began in 1994. The construction of the Southwest Forest Science Complex in 1992, which greatly expanded the amount of lab space available to faculty and students, has also been an important aid to the research program. Finally, the school has benefitted from productive research partnerships with the USDA Forest Service and the Ecological Restoration Institute, both of which are housed in the Southwest Forest Science Complex.

During most of its 50-year history, the School of Forestry was a stand-alone unit headed by its own dean. As NAU grew in size and complexity, however, the school became part of other, larger units. From 1996 until 2003, the School of Forestry was part of the College of Ecosystem Science and Management. When that college was dissolved, the School of Forestry briefly returned to its stand-alone status until it became part of the new Consortium of Professional Schools, a unit that existed from 2004 until 2007. As of July 1st 2008, the School of Forestry will become part of the College of Engineering, Forestry and Natural Sciences.

Through these various reorganizations and also through a number of difficult economic years for Arizona (and therefore its universities) the School of Forestry has continued to thrive. It has made the adjustments needed to modernize its curriculum, to hire the best possible faculty and staff, to improve its facilities, and to continue to meet the needs of the state of Arizona, the Southwest region, and the nation as a whole. Increasingly, the school is also expanding its scope to include international forestry. The more than 1,600 alumni, along with the friends of the School of Forestry, should be very proud of the accomplishments of this school. They also have every reason to be optimistic about its future.

Last Updated ( Thursday, 10 July 2008 )