I. General Information

1. Course Title:
NRCS Forestry

2. Course Prefix & Number:
NATR 1160

3. Course Credits and Contact Hours:

Credits: 1

Lecture Hours: 0.5

Lab Hours: 1

4. Course Description:

This course will survey and review selected Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) practices involving forest resources. Topics will include windbreaks and shelter belts, wildlife habitat with focus on early successional habitat, tree planting and care, forest stand improvement and management, and days with visits to sites where these practices have been established. There will be an overview of the site and a review of applicable principles and skills from Natural Resources courses prior to the visit. The visit will be followed with discussions of natural resource concerns onsite and how they were mitigated using NRCS practices.

5. Placement Tests Required:

Accuplacer (specify test):

No placement tests required

Score:

6. Prerequisite Courses:

There are no prerequisites for this course.

9. Co-requisite Courses:

There are no corequisites for this course.

II. Transfer and Articulation

III. Course Purpose

1. Program-Applicable Courses – This course is required for the following program(s):

This course, along with two others (Farmstead and Cropland/Pastureland both part of the NRCS Grant), will make up the required courses for the NRCS Certificate in the Natural Resources Program.

IV. Learning Outcomes

1. College-Wide Outcomes

College-Wide Outcomes/Competencies	Students will be able to:
Demonstrate interpersonal communication skills	Discuss natural resources concerns, operations constraints, landowner objectives and applied mitigation with the landowner to gain their perspective regarding land use and applied conservation practices.
Analyze and follow a sequence of operations	Follow a NRCS decision-making process to match natural resource concerns with mitigation practices.
Apply abstract ideas to concrete situations	Describe natural resources concerns that exist on working lands and identify which NRCS conservation practices should be applied.

2. Course Specific Outcomes - Students will be able to achieve the following measurable goals upon completion of the course:

• Describe natural resources concerns and identify applicable NRCS programs which mitigate the concerns and are acceptable to the landowner;
• List natural resources concerns and describe how different NRCS practices treat or mitigate the concerns; and
• Describe how different NRCS practices are assessed to determine their effectiveness in treating or mitigating a natural resource concern.

V. Topical Outline

Listed below are major areas of content typically covered in this course.

1. Lecture Sessions

1. Pre-trip Lecture
   • Outline the upcoming field experience, the setting and the resource management history of the site
   • Review applicable principles and knowledge previously acquired through Natural Resources courses
2. Post-trip Lecture
   • Follow the NRCS review process to evaluate the conservation practice(s) in place at the site:
     • What resource concerns were represented?
     • Which of these concerns were addressed?
     • What NRCS practices were applied?
     • How was the concern and practice assessed?

2. Laboratory/Studio Sessions

1. Four field-based lab experiences
   • Lab 1 – Windbreaks and shelter belts
   • Lab 2 – Wildlife habitat, with focus on early successional habitat
   • Lab 3 – Forest stand improvement/management and invasive species
   • Lab 4 – Tree planning and care