General Information

The forestry program at the University of Maine is one of the oldest in the United States and has had accredited undergraduate degrees since the early years of professional forestry accreditation. All graduate forestry degrees are offered under full University accreditation and, in addition, the Master of Forestry degree is SAF accredited.

Both basic and applied graduate research are accomplished through the use of well-equipped laboratories in Nutting Hall, greenhouse facilities on campus, and several field research stations throughout the state. Maine, the most heavily-forested state in the country, sets the context for this research, though projects reach beyond state and national boundaries. Much of the research is field-oriented, and there are a variety of ecosystems and socioeconomic conditions available for investigation. The College is responsible for the management of the Dwight B. Demeritt Forest, a 1,700-acre tract adjoining the campus, the Fay Hyland Tract natural preserve, the managed forests of the Worthen Tract in LaGrange, the Huff property in Hartland, The Holt Research Forest in Arrowsic and the Weed property in Veazie.

The 4,000-acre Penobscot Experimental Forest is near the campus and is available for cooperative research efforts. Maine contains more acreage of commercial forest land than any other state with half of its forests are in small ownership parcels. Opportunities exist for research on biophysical and socioeconomic problems of both industrial and nonindustrial private forests. Through the cooperation of forest industry, opportunities exist for on-site wood processing studies. Maine’s systems of land use regulation and forest taxation and the state’s long-standing reputation as a “vacationland” for forest recreation indicate other categories of research interest.

Forestry graduate study opportunities are strengthened by association with strong research programs within the College, elsewhere on the Orono campus, and in the Orono area. Review the list of Research Institutes and Programs that collaborate with faculty in the School of Forest Resources.

Cooperative relationships also are common between the Forestry Departments and the University of Maine’s Departments of Biological Sciences, Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Resource Economics and Policy, Computer Sciences, Geological Sciences, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering and particularly, the Wildlife Department of the College of Natural Resources, Forestry, and Agriculture.