Celebrating our centennial

Dean's statement

The dawn of a new year invites us to take stock of our accomplishments and set sights on new opportunities. This report provides a glimpse of a few of the significant contributions in 2014 of our College’s people — be they students, faculty, alumni, or staff. You’ll find innovative ways we have approached field-based education to prepare the next generation of conservation leaders. You’ll recognize how our supporters have fostered the means to launch our students toward successful careers. You’ll learn of some of the remarkable research projects undertaken by our faculty to fulfill our mission to cultivate science that makes a difference. You’ll see how all of us become energized by the excitement of discovery and the joy of learning.

The College will not stand still in 2015, but advance toward that hopeful horizon where human society works in harmony with the natural world. We will attract those students whose curiosity and drive fuel our common aspiration to apply knowledge to solve problems. We will act with both boldness and humility to tackle our most pressing challenges. We will devote ourselves to the union of science and caring so we might jointly embrace the solemn responsibility to leave the world a better place. Come and join us on this journey. We invite you to visit us here in Missoula or on our web site to see how you might participate in this uplifting pursuit.

Jim Burchfield
Dec. 31, 2014

2014 Report

Download a PDF of the report

Contact us connect@cfc.umt.edu 

Read about alumni

Read about donors

View a list of 2014 donors

Read about our students

Read about our research

In the fall of 2013 more than 200 alumni came back to campus to celebrate 100 years of forestry. Read more about the centennial and listen to oral history recordings.

College of Forestry and Conservation Centennial

Centennial festivities included:
Top row: Singing forestry songs on the steps of Main Hall
Middle row: Left- Banquet attendees Ken & Patti Bullman, Dave Wanderaas, Larry & Sandra Nelson and Deen Boe; Middle - eldest alumni in attendance Zane Smith, Jean Hamre (one of the earliest women graduates in 1947), Vern Hamre and Howie Hunter; Right - crosscut saw competition at Lubrecht
Bottom row: Left - The fun group from the 80s; - Deb Bond, Dennis Riley, Jocelyn, Sandy Mack, Zimmerman, Frank Maus, Mindi Federman, Risa Lange Navarro, Hank Goetz, Dean Marsh, Nancy Ross, Margaret Gimmy, Ian, Dennis Middle - watching the Woodsman’s Team demonstration at Ft. Missoula; Right - catching up with old friends at our BBQ

Highlights of 100 years of forestry

1913: Montana Legislature passes bill to establish School of Forestry and includes $6,000 for set up costs
1914: Forestry Club established
1922: First forestry classes held in the new Forestry building - where we still reside today
1928: Josephine Darlington is first female graduate of the school
1935: School of Forestry accredited by Society of American Foresters; accreditation aintained continuously since
1936: Wild Life Management program established (now known as Wildlife Biology)
1937: Montana Forest and Conservation Experiment Station founded by Montana Legislature
1937: Anaconda Copper Mining Company gives land to the school; combined with later gift from Pacific Northern Railway, this ecomes Lubrecht Experimental Forest
1947: Jean Hamre is the second female graduate of the school
1964: Forestry PhD program started
1970: Dean of the school Arnold Bolle wrote “A University View of the Forest Service” for Senator Lee Metcalf
1974: The Wilderness Institute and the Wilderness & Civilization program established
1987: Ed Bandy gives the Bandy Ranch to the school
2003: School of Forestry becomes College of Forestry and Conservation