The Cleveland State Forestry, Wildlife and Fisheries (FWF) program has gone national. The college Wildlife Society partnered with a number of organizations to implement a student exchange program, or Student Wildlands Adventure Program (SWAP) that will allow CSCC’s Wildlife Society students to go to New Mexico next month. Some of the organizations in the partnership include the U.S. Forest Service, Santa Fe National Forest National Park Service, Vallez Caldera National Preserve, New Mexico Department of Fame and Fish, New Mexico Wildlife Federation and the New Mexico Wildlife Society.
The program will allow students to gain experience in other parts of the country at little or no expense to them. During the SWAP, students will learn about and experience first-hand the ecosystems throughout Northern Mexico. In addition, they will learn numerous lessons on combining natural resource protection with maintaining cultural ways of life. Some of the highlights of the trip include traveling down the Chama River, a tour and hike of the Rio Grande, a hike to Williams Lake on Carson National Forest, a tour of the Vallez Caldera National Park and a view of the scenic Jemez River Gorge.
“This year, we are going to New Mexico; next year, they are coming to Tennessee,” stated Robert Brewer, Associate Professor of Biology / Wildlife Society Sponsor. “Programs like this will set us apart from other schools in the region. First and second year students simply do not have opportunities like these anywhere else! This is something they might expect to do at a senior level institution or at the graduate level, but they are getting this opportunity now as freshmen or sophomores. I guarantee there is no other school doing this at this level.”
This is one of the programs that will be run through the new Greg A. Vital Center for Natural Resources and Conservation, the first named academic program at the college.
“I think this program is very important because most of us have lived in east Tennessee our whole lives, and some of us may want to work somewhere totally different after college,” stated David Wright, President of the CSCC Wildlife Society. “I think this is beneficial because we will be able to experience the wildlife in a different state. We are used to managing whitetail deer and turkey in Tennessee, and New Mexico is used to managing cougars, mule deer and elk.”
Because of the significant growth in the FWF program, the college has chosen to add a new faculty member to this program.
“I’m excited to have a new person on board,” stated Brewer. “It will allow us to add more courses. We don’t know right now if that new instructor will take us toward the fisheries direction for expansion or the forestry direction for expansion, but we are looking to expand and broaden the program.”
The FWF program is a transfer program that allows students the opportunity to work with professionals from several state, federal, and private entities during their first two years of college. During their time in this program students will be able to explore the variety of jobs associated with the Forestry, Wildlife, and Fisheries field.
CSCC is the only two-year school in Tennessee with a student chapter of The Wildlife Society. Membership in this student chapter allows students to meet with and compete against senior institutions. It also allows students to meet with and discuss their future with advisers from senior institutions.
For more information on the SWAP or FWF programs, contact Brewer at (423) 473-2342 or by email at rbrewer@clevelandstatecc.edu.