About Us

The Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology had its origin in 1933 when the University of Wisconsin-Madison created a Chair in Game Management for Professor Aldo Leopold. Six years later, Leopold formed the Department of Wildlife Management, the first academic department in the world dedicated to the emerging field of wildlife management. Forestry had its origins in 1913 with a two-year "forest ranger's course" to provide technicians to help with reforestation in northern Wisconsin. Forestry research was conducted in several college programs and in 1959, the Department of Forestry and Wildlife Management was created to organize forestry and wildlife research under one program.

In 1962, the college created separate Departments of Forestry and Wildlife Management. A further change in 1967 created the Department of Wildlife Ecology, a name more in keeping with the Department's emphasis on the inter-relationships of animals and their physical environment. The College of Agricultural and Life Sciences added an undergraduate curriculum to the Department's graduate program that same year. In 1968, the Department of Forestry added an undergraduate major in Forest Science. This was first accredited by the Society of American Foresters in October, 1971. In 1997, the department name was changed to the Department of Forest Ecology and Management. The two departments were again combined in 2007 to form the Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology.

Updated: 2008.07.14