Retiring baby boomers are vacating positions that need to be filled by qualified natural resource professionals. As a result, the forest industry is facing a growing shortage with a projected 53,000 jobs opening up between 2008 and 2018. However, enrollment in university forestry programs is on the decline. Given that many forestry jobs do not require college education, high school level forestry curriculum is important in order to attract and prepare students for forestry careers. This purpose of this descriptive study was to “assess the current status of forestry education in high school career and technical education programs (CTE) in the Pacific Northwest,” as little information is available about high school forestry education.
To address this gap in existing literature the researchers created a survey using Survey Monkey and field-tested the survey to ensure face and content validity. In total, 81% of the 167 high schools that offered CTE programs responded to the survey.
The researchers found that 99 schools taught forestry content within 164 of their courses, including in the subjects of natural resources, forestry, environmental science and agricultural science. Specific topics covered in these courses often did not align with recommendations within the forestry industry. Specific topics and the amount of forestry content coverage varied by state, possibly related to the health of the forestry industry and the perceived value placed on forestry by the public in each state surveyed. Most teachers said that their forestry education courses, being introductory in nature, did not adequately prepare their high school students for forest industry careers. In addition, teachers felt that few of their students used their forestry education after graduation. However, they perceived the leadership and communication skills taught via the forestry curriculum, and the background provided for future informed voter decision making, to be valuable regardless of ultimate career choice.
The authors offer several recommendations for future research. The survey's broad focus allowed comment on topics related to leadership and informed decision making in addition to forestry career paths.
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