Education of an urban or community forestry work force

A serious problem for urban forestry, arboricultural, and other green industry firms has been the difficult task of securing personnel. It has been particularly difficult to secure beginning supervisory personnel. Firm expansion may well be limited by the ability of a firm to secure personnel. Woods (1993) predicted a 35% increase in green industry employment during the 1990s. Despite the potential for growth urban forestry and arboriculture have had difficulty in recruiting students. A model curricular that meets industry needs is presented. The curriculum presented is a Lt-year program in both semester and quarter formats. The curriculum has a balance of math, English, and science. Humanities and social sciences are included. Courses with an environmental focus and major courses provide the technical coursework. A minor in business is allowed and encouraged. The coursework total is 197 quarter hours or 131 semester hours.