Natural Resources - Forestry
Are you the type of person who loves the outdoors? Who likes to work on projects to see accomplishments? Who wants to make a difference in the world around you? Then a career in natural resource management with an emphasis in Forest Technology may be the perfect career path for you!
We have small classes with personal contact from expert instructors who come from the field of experience. Core courses emphasize relevant technology combined with practical knowledge of natural resource subjects. Classes have hands-on components with real world field labs held out at our school forest or model watershed.
Employment Resources
Career Examples
- Forestry Technician
- Forester/Urban Forester/Research Forester
- Arborist
- Environmental Consultant
- Forest Resource Administrator
- Conservation Biology
- Fire Suppression Specialist
- Land Use Planner
- Soil Scientist
- Environmental Protection Specialist
- Fisheries and Wildlife
- Land Rehabilitation Specialist
"GHC is an affordable community college that provides an excellent forestry program. My ultimate expectations for the program was to prepare me to enter the forestry workforce as soon as I graduated. The reality was that thanks to the flexibility that the program provides I was able to complete my senior year while also maintaining a part time job in the industry as a Forestry Technician. Thanks to hands on experience I acquired at GHC I was eventually promoted to Forester at the same company overseeing silvicultural practices and participating in landowner workshops.
As a California transplant who had absolutely no experience working or living around forests the program did an excellent job of exposing me to what it really meant to work in the forest. Ultimately this was accomplished thanks to the forest we have access to in the Satsop Business Park, and the various field trips that were available throughout the program. I am also a hands on learner that can not properly learn solely based off scenarios and literature. When originally looking into the program the factor that sealed my decision to enroll was learning how truly hands on the learning environment would be. I fondly remember spending at least a whole day each week in the woods practicing the literature and methodology we discussed on campus."
Gustavo A Segura Flores
Forester at Northwest Natural Resource Group
Santa Maria High School Class of 2014
GHC AAS - Natural Resource - Forestry Technician 2020
GHC BAS - Forest Resource Management 2022
"GHC was an amazing opportunity to gain my 4 year degree and stay close to home. After being out of high school for nearly 10 years, being able to attend college locally while raising my son was a huge benefit. The forestry program provided ample career training that prepared me for my future in industry. Growing up in Grays Harbor and being able to stay local and build my future in the forests I grew up in and provide sustainable resources for generations to come has been a huge benefit for the community I serve. The advisors, resources, and networking opportunities I gained while attending GHC were vast and ones that have continued since graduating."
"The education I received helped me gain several amazing internships that helped put my education into in-field experience. This in turn gave me the skills and knowledge to advance my career in forestry. I continue to use my expanded college knowledge to better my programs at work, and still utilize the professional contacts I made while attending GHC."
Jennilyn Rigdon
Regeneration Forester- The Quinault Indian Nation
Elma High School Class of 2005
Grays Harbor College BAS Forest Resource Management Class of 2019