[Iesaf_selkirk] Reorganization of U of Idaho college of Natural Resources

[Albert Merkel]

As an alumni of the college with a degree in Forest Resources Management, I have for several years been very concerned about the erosion of the professional status of a "forester."  I have notices that the USFS has and continues to reduce the number of professional foresters on the working staff.  Forest Service Offices often do not have foresters.  There are ecologists, wildlife people (conservationists not managers), public relations managers, land use planners, recreation managers, etc.  There are few timber sales people, logging managers, commercially based foresters, etc.  

It follows that the College of Forestry, Wildlife, and Range Sciences (as I still refer to it) has further fallen under the new vision of forestry is a poor occupation and managing forests is something to do badly but politically correctly.  

I do see the profession not being modified to meet modern challenges but being eliminated because no scientific management can be done with the present social/political control of the forest in the hands of the socially connected and the saver the environment or in fact save the politically correct definition of the environment.  

Might as well change the name to "College of Good Feelings and Treeland Protection."

Morose is not a good feeling.  Sorry, Jo Ellen Force and Jim Moore.
 
Albert L. Merkel
(H & FAX) 509-926-6203
(CELL) 509-251-1043
Skype in number 1-509-643-4473




________________________________
From: callihan <callihan at uidaho.edu>
To: jferris at smtax.com
Cc: aharper at rileycreek.com; almerkel at yahoo.com; ATTERBURY TOBY <tatterbury at atterbury.com>; billoconn at earthlink.net; "bosworth at dmi.net" <bosworth at coldreams.com>; Boothe Norris <norrisboothe at hotmail.com>; "Carole Harwood(charwood at stmaries.com)" <dharwood at smgazette.com>; advancedforests at nidlink.com; Charles McKetta <forestecon at moscow.com>; "CORNWALL, RALPH" <ralphc at gocougs.wsu.edu>; Costich-Thompson Jennifer <jcostichthompson at fs.fed.us>; Damon Keith <kpcamfam at smgazette.com>; keathley at msu.edu; baumgtnr at wsu.edu; dandgisp at aol.com; Deveny Bill <bdeveny at spro.net>; Diahne Gill <dgill at greaterspokane.org>; "EBEL, FRED W" <FREDEBEL at aol.com>; spforester at msn.com; akerslogging at gateway.net; "gld3447 at stmaries.com" <gld3447 at smgazette.com>; guy at wolfenet.com; "HAMMES, DAN" <dano at stmariesidaho.com>; HARVEY GEOFF <gharvey at deq.state.id.us>; dog1 at wsu.edu; kennon at dmi.net; "DAVID, KIRK" <kirkdavid at earthlink.net>; lkaney at povn.com; mike.fish at weyerhaeuser.com; "NOSKOWIAK, ARTHUR"
 <AFNosko at aol.com>; "PARENT, DENNIS R." <drparent at adelphia.net>; "PARENT, DENNIS R." <parentd at iepco.com>; rtgraham at fs.fed.us; Selkirk Chapter <iesaf_selkirk at iesaf.org>; skip at cybrquest.com; fmsp at worldshare.net; bloedes at aol.com; steve.decook at wadnr.gov; Dennis Tanikuni <dtanikuni at idahofb.org>; Terri Jain <tjain at fs.fed.us>; Thornes Jane <pettispeaktf at dmi.net>; timberland <timberland at dmi.net>; Trimble Eric <etrimble2 at yahoo.com>; wayne4weco at aol.com; "WOLCOTT, MIKE" <inlandforest at nidlink.com>; WRIGHT LARRY <larry.wright at potlatchcorp.com>; "ZACK, ART" <artzack at aol.com>; Bob Smathers <bsmathers at idahofb.org>; Carol Rust <crusty90000 at hotmail.com>; Duncan Cheri <cheri.treetrimmer at gmail.com>; Duncan Rose <trose at pacifer.com>; Fleener Craig <clfleener at verizon.net>; Frei Ron <franch at valint.net>; "HARWOOD, DICK RJ" <rjharwood at harwood-for-state-rep.com>; idfbsp at micron.net; "lemorris at nidlink.com" <lemorris at imbris.net>; Lowry Russell <lowry at netsquito.com>; Mark Ferris
 <mferris at mferris.com>; Phil Sergent <philormaria at palousenet.com>; Rust Delbert <drusty555 at hotmail.com>; wbutler at idaho.tds.net
Sent: Mon, March 15, 2010 6:17:03 PM
Subject: Re: Reorganization of U of Idaho college of Natural Resources

Hi John,

Thanks for the note.  

Since the attachments referred to in the e-mail messages below were not included, the curricular concerns are not clear, so it's not possible to draw sound conclusions about those from the e-mail exchanges.  I'd like to know how you envision those concerns.  

 I understand the implications of change in the development of business and industry, but I always cringe when names of University administrative units are changed to become less comprehensible or unduly encompassing, as "Ecology and Biogeosciences".  The faculties of the disciplines represented here have, in the past, been known to be among the most sound-minded at the Univerisity;  I hope that this doesn't give way to pomposity.

Regards,
Bob C..

On 3/15/2010 2:21 AM, John Ferris wrote: 
Dear Forestry Community;
>We are being given a tour (sponsored by the Idaho Farm Bureau- Staff member Robert Smarthers, Northern Region) of the Idaho DNR, U of I, starting at room 200, on March 24th at 8:30 AM by Dean McLaughlin, Jo-Ellen Force and others. You are all invited. Contact me to RSVP and for parking permits. Enclosed are some recent communications concerning our land grant college. You may make your own conclusions and perhaps respond in some way later. Certainly Idaho has always been a leader in this area for 100 years and is one of last East Side professional accredited degree programs in an area spanning: Colorado, NM, AZ, east OR, east WA, Idaho, west  Montana, UT, and west Wyo. The list of skills Mr. Bacon describes is in my estimation limited to those required by a State Agency. I am sure there are other skills sets and specialties required for other forest land owning entities and their consultants.
> 
>Sincerely,
>John J Ferris, CF, EA- B.S. Michigan State 64’- 49 years of Mgt. and taxation experience in Idaho-Oregon-Jamaica
> 
>Please feel free to forward this to those concerned.
>p.s. There will be a Palouse Chapter SAF meeting on this subject March 25th at 5Pm, Best Western, Moscow ID 
> 
>
________________________________

> 
>Here is Ara's info
>----- Original Message ----- 
>From:Ara Andrea 
>Sent:Tuesday, March 09, 2010 4:29 PM
> 
>I wanted to send you some documents/memos that we received that pertain to the recent changes made at the UI College of Natural Resources.
> 
>Attached is a FAQ document put out by the college, and below is a letter sent by Jo Ellen Force (Forest Resources Department Chair) in response to letters that John Bruna and I had sent to Dean McLaughlin, expressing our specific concerns with the (then proposed) program consolidations. (John’s memo is below; my letter is attached.)
> 
>I hope these documents will assist all of you in understanding these changes better.
> 
> 
> 
>Ara
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
>From:Force, Jo Ellen [mailto:JOELLEN at uidaho.edu] 
>Sent: Tuesday, November 24, 2009 3:15 PM
>To: John Bruna; McLaughlin, William; Ara Andrea; David Groeschl; Craig Foss; Roger Jansson
>Cc: O'Laughlin, Jay; Loehring, Mike; Gorman, Tom; DAVID ADAMS; Ulliman, Joseph
>Subject: RE: Notice of Intent & Forester Criteria
> 
> 
>Hello John,
> 
>First, I have copied everyone that was included in your letter to Dean McLaughlin as well as others copied in Ara Andrea’s letter and UI folks who have been involved in recent discussions about the Notice of Intent in CNR.  I hope this is OK with you, as I am drowning in e-mails after being out of the country for a couple of weeks.
> 
>Thank you for sending the “Minimum Criteria:  Land Resource Manager, Sr. – Forest ” to me.  It will be helpful to the faculty when we are advising our students.  I plan to share it with the students in FOR 102 Introduction to Forest Management next spring.  
> 
>I have carefully reviewed it and have attached it with my comments listing the courses in the SAF-accredited BS Forest Resources degree program that address each of the minimum criteria.  Students take courses covering all the IDL criteria, except the first two on contract preparation and administration.  I hope that the list of courses will help you and others in IDL who may be hiring our graduates as you evaluate their transcripts and relate their university education with your criteria.  
> 
>I have also added a comment related to #23 with respect to requiring an SAF-accredited degree for the Forester level positions.  This is a particularly sensitive issue with me and the faculty because we have had several students in recent years who cannot achieve a “C” average or better in a number of the forestry courses required to graduate in our program.  This is especially true of courses that require quantitative skills.  These students usually switch to “General Studies” and graduate from UI, but often do not tell employers that they did not graduate with an accredited forestry degree.  Unfortunately, many employers do not request the official university transcript verifying the degree.  These students usually have several forestry courses and have had summer work experience with the employer.  Many employers do not call faculty for references.  When one of these students is not performing well or is lacking some skills the
 employer expected them have, we hear that “your program is not preparing forestry students for the job market any more”.  When the employer is willing to tell us the name of the person, it is often not a graduate of the SAF-accredited (or SWST for Forest Operations majors) degree program – yet they are graduates of the University of Idaho and their employers assumed it was from the accredited forestry degree program.  This has also happened with students who are actually in the Ecology and Conservation Biology or the Wildlife or other CNR degree programs – none of which are accredited forestry degrees.
> 
>The Notice of Intent that CNR is putting forward, does not change the name of the BS Forest Resources program.  This program has been significantly strengthened this fall in several ways: (1) the number of credits the students will earn in forest measurements and inventory, dendrology, ecosystem processes, forest regeneration, and forest dynamics and management have increased by 50% -- from 12 credits to 18 credits.  These increases are due to the expanded material that has been added to these courses as we’ve hired new faculty, the knowledge and skills we believe are needed by the foresters of the future, and the amount of time students are spending in the field and in labs; and (2)  the BS Forest Products--Forest Operations Option degree has been merged with the BS Forest Resources degree.  Courses in wood anatomy and primary wood products manufacturing along with two more harvesting courses are now included in the Restricted Electives of the
 SAF-accredited Forest Resources degree.  This allows students to follow a forest operations career track and with a couple other courses, they can get a Forest Operations Minor.  The students who are already at the UI in the BS Forest Products—Operations Option will still receive that degree unless they choose to switch to the merged degree in next year’s catalog.  The increase in credits for the courses I listed above will take place immediately and the Forest Operations Minor is available now.  Not all of the BS Forest Resources students will take the “forest operations” career track.  Some will chose a “fire” track; some plan on graduate school and will take courses from the Restricted Electives that will better prepare them for graduate school; some may emphasize a more “multiple use” career track and take some wildlife, fisheries or recreation-oriented courses.  That is why it is important to review transcripts when hiring as
 the Forest Resources degree allows considerable flexibility in a determining a career track.
> 
>The Department of Forest Resources has always been a diverse, interdisciplinary group of faculty – most of whom conduct research, have graduate students, and do outreach in a wide variety of disciplines, but usually associated with forest ecosystems.  With the proposed merger due to budget realities, the faculty will become more diverse and expand to include work on grasslands, steppe and other ecosystems.  The faculty tried to find a name for the new department (sometimes called the “mega-department”) that would serve as an “umbrella” name for the three undergraduate degree programs (forestry, fire and range) as well as the broad span of research programs we are involved with, including work that involves many disciplines (and external funding) outside of traditional “forestry.”  Because many faculty and students in recent years have been attending the American Geophysical Union Biogeosciences section and presenting their research at
 these meetings, this seems like a good name to represent the 21st century directions that research related to forests seems to be heading.  Although Jim Moore never used the word Biogeosciences, much of his work on “good rocks/bad rocks” and forest nutrition is very consistent with the orientation of this new field.  
> 
>We have also tried to find a name that wasn’t a paragraph long and was inclusive of all the different types of work we do – so we left any modifiers off of “Ecology”.  This is also very controversial – and painful for many of us.  “Forestry” was lost in the College name in 2000 and in the Master of Science name last year – and there were no objections last year and few in 1999-2000.  We expect to have an accredited BS Forest Resources (or Forestry) degree program far into the future.   I have also attached an information piece that many of the faculty have worked on regarding the name that was selected after a voting process that included three rounds (and started with ~30 possible names) and the name “Ecology and Biogeosciences” was eventually selected by a vote of 14 to 9.  I hope you will read this attachment and ask questions and/or provide comments.  
> 
>I am sure there will be more discussion of the NOI – re-organization, names, programs, etc.  in the weeks ahead.  I will encourage the Dean to set up a meeting with you and other IDL folks – hopefully, before the Holidays.
> 
>Jo Ellen
> 
>Jo Ellen Force
>Department Head and Professor
>Department of Forest Resources
>Universityof Idaho
>P.O. Box441133
>Moscow, ID 83844-1133
>Phone:   208-885-7311  208-885-7311 
> 
>From:John Bruna [mailto:jbruna at idl.idaho.gov] 
>Sent: Thursday, November 12, 2009 8:58 AM
>To: McLaughlin, William, dean CNR
>Cc: O'Laughlin, Jay; Force, Jo Ellen
>Subject: Notice of Intent
> 
>Dear Dean McLaughlin,
> 
>The Idaho Department of Lands (IDL), Bureau of Forest Management has been notified of the College of Natural Resources proposal to change the existing organizational structure of the college by combining five academic departments into three, and a name change for the Department.  While we can understand the need for consolidating and realigning departments based on current budget realities and student enrollments, we are very concerned about the proposed name change.  The proposed new department’s name of “Department of Ecology and Biogeosciences” does not adequately or appropriately describe the programs represented by that department. 
> 
>Idaho Department of Lands has a long history of hiring U of I forestry graduates.  Given our active forest management program on endowment lands, we expect the need to hire well trained four-year forestry graduates to continue.  We need students who have the basic skills, knowledge and experience in the following areas: forest silviculture, forest plant ecology, forest statistics and mensuration, forest engineering and harvesting, forest economics, and forest management and finance, geology and forest soils, cadastral land surveying and strong communication skills.  Attached is the Minimum Criteria: Lands Resource Manager, Sr. – Forest for new foresters working for the Idaho Department of Lands to achieve the Senior Resource Manger – Forester level.  These individuals are expected to reach this goal in two years.
> 
>Before consolidating these programs and changing the name, please consider meeting with representatives from the Department of Lands to discuss potential impacts and alternatives.  
> 
> 
>Sincerely,
> 
>John A. Bruna
>Program Manager, Forest Planning  & Silviculture
>Idaho Department of Lands
>Coeur d’Alene , Idaho   83815  
> 
> 
> 
> 
>