Learning About Forestry Careers – A Curriculum
For years, I have been encouraging everyone in the forest industry to introduce a young person (or better yet, a group of young people) to the forest products industry. It is a great, varied, and rewarding profession, and one that many kids just aren’t exposed to or make incorrect assumptions about. If we as an industry have any chance of filling our workforce of the future, certainly some of that will be from exposing students to the opportunities in the woods and at the mill (and in the many opportunities to support those jobs).
More than a few folks have reached out to me and asked, “Ok, I am interested and willing to do this, but…what do I do? Is there a curriculum or suggested activities?”
Let me start with nothing beats a field visit to a managed forest, a logging operation, or a mill. Seeing the forest industry in action – even if it is just trees growing – helps people visualize and understand what is happening, what a career might look like, and how the industry is interconnected.
That said, someone has put together a particularly good curriculum that covers forestry and the forest industry. The Boy Scouts of America has a Forestry Merit Badge, and the requirements for earning this turn out to be a pretty good overview, from the woods to the mill. Of course, you don’t need to check every box, but this is a good set of ideas, homework, and activities that can get someone thinking about a career in the woods or the mills. The requirements can be found here (https://www.scouting.org/merit-badges/forestry/), and include:
- Tree identification;
- Description of the contributions forests make to the economy, recreation, clean air and water, habitat and more;
- Types of forest management;
- A field visit to a managed forest, logging job or mill;
- A cursory forest inventory; and
- Understanding and discussing one or more forest-related occupations.
Of course, the merit badge requirements are more detailed, but that’s the quick version. There is a “pamphlet” (actually an 80-page book) that you could purchase that walks you through all of this, answers, and provides excellent background, but if this is what you do for a living day-to-day, the book won’t offer much additional information.
I know that many people who chose to work in the forest industry did so because they like being in the woods and aren’t necessarily comfortable teaching youth or being the center of attention. That’s fine, but remember that you are an expert in what you do, and with a little structure and some enthusiasm, you can help young people understand the rewarding career opportunities that exist in forestry, logging, and mills. The Forestry Merit Badge is just one way to organize your thoughts and introduce youth to the profession you love.
