Form and function of forests as ecological systems. Characteristics and dynamics of species, populations, communities, landscapes, and ecosystem processes. Examples applying ecology to forest management. Weekly discussions focus on research topics in forest ecology, exercises applying course concepts, and current issues in forest resource management. Required weekend field trip. Prereq: Biol 1001, 1009 or equivalent introductory biology course; 1 semester college chemistry recommended.

Management of forest ecosystems for sustaining ecological integrity, soil productivity, water quality, wildlife habitat, biological diversity, commodity production in landscape context. Silvics, forest dynamics, disturbances, regeneration, restoration, silvicultural systems. Ramifications of management choices. Weekend field trip. FEMC track students should take FNRM 5413 concurrently

Identification nomenclature, classification, and distribution of common/important forest trees/shrubs. Use of keys. Field/lab methods of identification.

Field identification of common northwoods trees, shrubs, and nonwoody vascular plants. Emphasizes concept of plant communities, soil site relationships, and wildlife values. Taught at Cloquet Forestry Center.

Field examination of natural history of northern/boreal forests with respect to soils, ecological characteristics of trees, community-environment relationships, stand development, succession, and regeneration ecology. Taught at the Cloquet Forestry Center. prereq: Biol 1001 or Biol 1009

Introduction to land survey, tree/forest stand measurement (mensuration), and forest sampling techniques. Taught at Cloquet Forestry Center.

Political processes in management of the environment. How disagreements are addressed by different stakeholders, private-sector interests, government agencies, institutions, communities, and nonprofit organizations.

Microeconomic principles and their application to natural resource management problems. Economic and policy tools to address market failures. Discussion of regulatory and market-based instruments. Discounting and compounding concepts. Methods for conducting financial and economic analyses of natural resource management projects. Decision criteria when conducting benefit/cost analysis of natural resource projects. Methods for valuing non-market natural resource goods and services. Economics of managing renewable natural resources such as forests and fisheries. Land economics. Payments for environmental services. Planning and management problems. Case studies. prereq: MATH 1031 or equivalent.

Management science as applied to forest decision-making to help develop better forest management plans. Helps students develop a basic understanding of common analytical tools from operations research and how they are applied to forestry problems to help explore many potential solutions. Also reviews traditional approaches based on simulation. Emphasizes trade-off information, interpretation of model results, and linkages between stand-level economic analysis and forest-wide planning. Reviews recent modeling efforts in Minnesota. Includes synthesis of information from multiple natural resource disciplines. Guest speakers demonstrate value of analyses in planning. Emphasizes homework assignments with some group work. An individual project requires an informal class presentation. prereq: recommended ESPM 3261 and [3218 or 3411]

Most of us participate in some form of outdoor recreation: hiking, hunting, riding all-terrain vehicles, or simply enjoying nature. Managing for outdoor recreation on public lands is mandated by federal law and an integral part of natural resource management. In this class, we'll learn why and how agencies manage recreation at the federal level, the management frameworks that guide this work, and apply management principles to an actual federal property in Minnesota. This course is designed to provide students with an understanding of the principles and practices of outdoor recreation management. Specific objectives are to: 1)compare and contrast federal recreation land management policies & organizations, 2)develop and demonstrate an understanding of conceptual frameworks for recreation resource and visitor use management, 3)evaluate visitor caused impacts to resources and to visitor experiences, 4)understand and apply management tools designed to reduce recreation- related impacts and conflicts, and 5)demonstrate an understanding of course material through exams & applied assignments.

Spatial data development/analysis in science/management of natural resources. Data structures/sources/collection/quality. Geodesy, map projections, spatial/tabular data analysis. Digital terrain analysis, cartographic modeling, modeling perspectives, limits of technology. Lab exercises. Both onsite and fully online options for course enrollment. prereq: Soph or jr or sr or UHP fr

Sampling design, survey techniques to assess resource conditions. Applying metrics/sampling methods to forest vegetation. Calculating tree/stand volume. Modeling approaches. Case studies of modeling to project future growth. Landscape processes, characterization, modeling. prereq: [ESPM 3012 or STAT 3011], MATH 1151

Introductory principles and techniques of remote sensing and geospatial analysis applied to mapping and monitoring land and water resources from local to global scales. Examples of applications include: Land cover mapping and change detection, forest and natural resource inventory, water quality monitoring, and global change analysis. The lab provides hands-on experience working with satellite, aircraft, and drone imagery, and image processing methods and software. Prior coursework in Geographic Information Systems and introductory Statistics is recommended. Prereq: None, but prior coursework in GIS and Statistics is recommended.

Selection, growth, propagation, and maintenance of trees for urban spaces. Tree selection, site preparation, plant health care management. Prevention, diagnosis, and remediation of urban tree risks such as insects, pathogens, pollution, development, and climate change.

Hydrologic cycle and water processes in upland/riparian systems. Applications of hydrological concepts to evaluate impacts of forest and land management activities on water yield, streamflow, groundwater erosion, sedimentation, and water quality. Concepts, principles, and applications of riparian/watershed management. Regional/national/global examples. Forest ecosystems. prereq: [[BIOL 1001 or BIOL 1009], [[CHEM 1015, CHEM 1017] or CHEM 1021], MATH 1151] or instr consent

Introduction to forest operations. Terminology, basic engineering, equipment and harvesting system options, productivity/costs. Relationship to forest management and silviculture. Road planning, forest management guidelines, approaches for mitigating potential impacts to forest resources. Environmental implications of method/equipment choices. Selling timber. Sale design, layout, and administration. One all-day field trip. prereq: FNRM 3411 or instr consent

Development of silvicultural prescriptions to achieve various landowner objectives. Timber cruise, growth/yield simulations, stand density management diagrams, thinning schedules, use of forest vegetation simulator. This will include mandatory field trips. prereq: FNRM-FEMC track students should take FNRM 3411/5411 concurrently

Ecology, history, management, control of fire, wind, insect infestation, deer browsing, other disturbances in forests, including disturbance regimes of boreal, northern hardwood, savannas of North America. Influence of disturbance on wildlife habitat, urban/wildland interfaces, forest management, stand/landscape dynamics. Tree mortality in fires, successional patterns created by fires, interactions of life history traits of plants with disturbances.

Introduction to landscape ecology at different scales in time/space. Development/implications of broad-scale patterns of ecological phenomena, role of disturbance in ecosystems, characteristic spatial/temporal scales of ecological events. Principles of landscape ecology as framework for landscape research, analysis, conservation, and management. prereq: Ecology course

Biology, ecology, population management of forest/shade tree insects. Emphasizes predisposing factors/integrated management. Lecture/lab.

This course provides an overview of tree diseases in urban and forested areas. It covers diseases that have had a significant impact on society such as Dutch Elm disease; oak wilt, chestnut blight, white pine blister rust, sudden oak death and many others. It also provides an overview of important cankers, leaf diseases, wilts, rusts, root rots and other tree problems. Laboratory sessions enable students to get hands-on experience identifying disease agents, examining symptoms and learning appropriate control procedures. Emphasis will also be placed on ecological processes, biological and cultural control, and host-parasite interactions. This course should be of value to anyone interested in biological sciences, natural resources or ecology. It is a must for individuals that will have a career in natural resources but should also be useful to those interested in maintaining healthy trees at home, in urban areas or woodlands. Alumni of the University working with trees or woody ornamentals indicate this is one of the most important courses you can take as a student.