斯蒂芬奧斯汀州立大學(xué)

Human Dimensions/Forest Recreation Management Prepares students to manage human involvement and interaction with forests, wild life habitats, and wild land recreation sites. Provides students with the unique opportunity to prepare for a career that applies the sciences of the natural resource environment as well as the sciences of sociology, psychology, communications, and conservation education. ?

Today's students of forest recreation management will be tomorrow's park resource managers. They will be faced with increasingly complex recreation demands such as hunting, hiking, wildlife watching, and ATV riding. They will be faced with new forms of recreation not yet dreamed of and increasingly strict environmental controls to go with them. Specialists in forest recreation are naturalists familiar with plants and animals, managers able to plan and operate a park, and educators capable of communicating the uniqueness of their park to visitors and potential visitors. They are also expected to plan, manage and protect natural and cultural resources so they will be available for future generations.

Careers

Job opportunities in the field of Forest Recreation may be divided into two primary areas. The first is the area of natural resource communication and resource interpretation. Sometimes called Interpretive Naturalists, their job responsibilities may include preparing and presenting educational programs, designing exhibits, guiding hiking trips or trail walks and public relations for the site. These duties may involve collecting exhibit materials, such plant and animal specimens, photography, research, trail construction, working with exhibit design consultants and the coordination of volunteer interpreters.

The second field is Park Management. Park and recreation facility managers are responsible for the day-to-day operations in parks and recreation areas as well as planning for future developments and for the management of the natural resources in the park. Because a modern park often has all the same functions of a small town, park managers need a broad set of skills including forest and wildlife management, personnel management, community relations, budgeting and maintenance management. Park professionals often are involved in writing and carrying out management plans to conserve natural resources within a park or in marketing research to determine public wants and needs.