Assessment of skills needed in entry-level urban foresters in the USA

Urban forestry is an interdisciplinary field of science and a profession that directly manages green infrastructure. There are many significant benefits to a properly managed urban forest resource, managers need to be appropriately prepared to successfully manage their resources. We conducted a mixed-mode survey that asked employers what skills they were looking for when they hired entry-level urban foresters and if recent hires possessed these skills. The survey was mailed to municipal urban forest managers at the top 200 most populous cities in the United States and was available online as a snowball survey. Most of the skill ratings for entry-level urban foresters in this study were positive. It appears that academic programs are meeting much of the needs for entry-level urban foresters as important-performance analysis found that employers felt most of the urban forestry, arboriculture, & forestry skills were being adequately met. Yet there was room for improvement in skills such as site plan review, project management, conflict resolution and community outreach. Interestingly, accredited degree programs were not valued in this survey, while some professional certifications and licenses were valued.