Resource Recreation and Tourism

A Bachelor of Science (B.S.) in Resource Recreation and Tourism from the University of Idaho gives you a deep understanding of the relationship between people and the environmental issues facing the world today. As a graduate of the nationally-recognized program, one of only three of its kind in the U.S., you’ll be equipped with the skills and knowledge to influence human behavior in order to better protect and conserve the environment.

You may pursue a B.S. Resource Recreation and Tourism with an emphasis in one of the following:

• Parks, Protected Areas and Wilderness Conservation: You will study ecological principles, socioeconomic theory and management applications to understand, manage, protect and restore the earth’s protected areas.
• Environmental Communications (Education, Interpretation and Communication): You will learn to communicate about the world in ways that awaken others to work toward a sustainable future.
• Conservation Land Use Planning and Policy: Prepares you to work with people from diverse communities and cultural backgrounds in order to define and solve complex environmental problems.
• Conservation Leadership: Prepares you for a career as a conservation advocate.

The Department of Conservation Social Sciences also offers the following minors:

• Environmental Communication
• Outdoor Recreation Leadership
• Sustainable Tourism and Leisure Enterprises
• Parks, Protected Areas and Wilderness Conservation
• Arboriculture and Urban Forestry

As a student of resource recreation and tourism, you will explore topics ranging from local community conservation issues to global environmental challenges in the public and private sector. The program integrates a broad range of perspectives, including:

• Psychology
• Sociology
• Political science
• Economics
• Geography
• Law
• Philosophy
• Ethics
• Natural resources

You’ll also have the flexibility to concentrate on topics within the field of resource recreation and tourism that are of particular interest to you, such as:

• Natural resource communication
• Environmental interpretation/education
• Conservation management, planning and policy
• Outdoor recreation leadership
• Sustainable tourism and leisure enterprises
• Parks, protected areas and wilderness conservation

Prepare for Success

If you care about the environment, the Bachelor of Science (B.S.) in Resource Recreation and Tourism may be a good fit for you. The program is ideal for those who want a career working in the outdoors, but also want to interact with people. To be well prepared for this degree program, you should take high school classes that build skills in the social, political and biological sciences, written and verbal communication, math and leadership. You should also have a strong interest in outdoor recreation activities.

Your First Year

You will choose an area of concentration during your first year in the program. You will also complete foundation courses in conservation social sciences (CSS) and other courses that provide you with the broad social perspectives required in the field, including:

• CSS 235 – Society and Natural Resources
• CSS 287 – Foundations of Conservation Leadership and Management
• CSS 304 – Conservation Social Sciences Field Studies
• Natural Resources 101 – Exploring Natural Resources
• English 102 – College Writing and Rhetoric
• Geology 101 – Physical Geology
• Biology 102 – Biology and Society
• Math 143 – Precalculus Algebra and Analytic Geometry
• Political Science 101– Intro to Political Science and American Government
• Introduction to Anthropology/Psychology/ Sociology
• Public speaking or a foreign language

Resource Recreation and Tourism Course Checklist

Detailed List of Course Web Sites

What You Can Do

With a Bachelor of Science (B.S.) in Resource Recreation and Tourism from the University of Idaho, you may become a:

• Wilderness/backcountry manager
• Park ranger
• Public affairs specialist
• Information or education specialist
• Environmental/land use planner
• Interpretive naturalist

You can also continue your education beyond the bachelor’s degree right here at the University of Idaho. The Department of Conservation Social Sciences in the College of Natural Resources offers the following graduate programs:

• Master of Science in Conservation Social Sciences
• Master of Natural Resources
• Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Natural Resources

Opportunities

While graduates with a B.S. Resource Recreation and Tourism work primarily for governmental agencies, an increasing number of students are working in private business and with nonprofit organizations. Federal, state and conservation agencies, nonprofit groups and non-governmental agencies that employ our graduates include: 

• Bureau of Land Management
• Idaho Department of Land Management
• National Park Service
• The Nature Conservancy
• U.S. Forest Service

With a career in resource recreation and tourism, you may:

• Explore the "people side" of conservation and environmental issues facing the world today
• Influence human behavior to achieve a broad array of environmental goals
• Create and maintain the earth's special public places and heighten our experience of those places
• Protect wild places and manage natural resources

The average salary in this field ranges from $28,000-$70,000, depending on one's level of education, experience and area of specialization.

Current Research

Our faculty members are leaders in the University of Idaho’s focus on sustainability. They conduct internationally-recognized research and also work extensively to strengthen the state’s science curriculum for youth. Professor Steven Hollenhorst founded the McCall Outdoor Science School, the only publicly operated K-12 residential outdoor science program in Idaho. Other current research interests include:

• Parks and wilderness
• Protected areas policy
• Planning and management
• Conservation history
• Urban and community forestry
• Environmental interpretation and communication
• Human dimensions of ecosystem management
• Resource-based tourism and eco-tourism
• Wild and scenic river management
• Conflict resolution
• Social science research methods and design
• Land trusts and conservation easements

Online Reports and Publications
Conservation Social Sciences Publications

MOSS Green: Steven Hollenhorst, executive director of the McCall Outdoor Science School (MOSS) and professor of conservation social sciences, and Bruce Haglund, professor of architecture, are leading a student, faculty and industry team on a carbon-neutral challenge project. The project is part of a $10,000 grant recently awarded to the team by the Environmental Protection Agency.

Activities

Our students are involved in a variety of professional and civic organizations, such as the Student Organization for The People and the Environment (SOPE),  Student Affairs Council and Student Chapter of the International Association for Society and Natural Resources. You will have opportunities to network with practicing professionals and gain valuable experience through community service projects and other fieldwork.

Hands-On Experience

Practical experience in conservation social sciences is vital to enhancing your education and preparing you for your professional career. You'll participate in field courses that include traveling in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming, and a backpacking trip in the backcountry of Yellowstone National Park. Our programs expose you to agency personnel to see firsthand how conservation programs are managed. Your hands-on experiences may include:

• Internships: The internship program challenges you to productively combine field experience with what you are learning in the classroom while pursuing your degree.
• Service-Learning Projects: You will extend you learning into the community for opportunities to apply classroom concepts to real-life situations. By engaging in such projects, you’ll address real community need and gain valuable field experience. Our undergraduates have successfully secured service-learning grants for projects such as increasing the use of reusable coffee mugs on campus and working with rural communities to apply conservation plans.
• Green Infrastructure in Dayton (example of service-learning project): Student Dana Coombs, with guidance from faculty, is leading a group of students to introduce and implement green infrastructure – a process highlighting the importance of the natural environment in decisions about land use planning and conservation while engaging community residents in the decision-making process – to the town of Dayton, Wash. She applied for, and received, a grant from the University of Idaho Service-Learning Center to implement the project.

Breakthroughs & Discoveries

Beyond Bricks and Mortar: College of Natural Resources scientists, Tim Link, Ron Robberecht, Edwin Krumpe and other collaborators, received $80,000 from the Idaho State Board of Education to investigate the effectiveness of state-of-the-art lecture capture technology (LCT) not currently used at the University of Idaho. Their work will produce computer-based materials to enhance the learning outcomes of on- and off-campus courses and outreach activities. Long-term outcomes include increased enrollment in distance and continuing education courses, improved student performance and retention in on-campus courses and enhanced networking of faculty and professionals throughout Idaho and the world.

Facilities

College of Natural Resources facilities include:

• University of Idaho Experimental Forest
• University of Idaho Center for Forest Nursery and Seedling Research
• Remote Sensing and GIS Research Laboratory
• Remote Sensing/GIS Teaching Laboratory
• Forest and Range Measurements Laboratory
• Guernsey Outdoor Classroom
• Taylor Ranch Field Station
• Idaho Stable Isotopes Laboratory
• Inland Empire Tree Improvement Cooperative
• Intermountain Forest Tree Nutrition Cooperative
• University of Idaho Laboratory for Conservation and Ecological Genetics
• Landscape Dynamics Laboratory
• Lee Sharp Experimental Area
• McCall Field Campus
• Policy Analysis Group

Online & Outreach

The McCall Outdoor Science School was founded in 2001 and instantly became the only publicly operated K-12 residential outdoor school in the entire state of Idaho. Our mission is to advance academic achievement through a strong, statewide K-12 University partnership.

Online Programs and Courses

Faculty Involvement

The Department of Conservation Social Sciences has eight faculty members. Several have won college and university-wide teaching awards. Graduates of the program consistently praise the faculty for their knowledge, teaching excellence, accessibility, helpful advising and overall concern for students.

Bill McLaughlin
Dean of College of Natural Resources & Professor
» Bill McLaughlin - profile

Chuck Harris
Professor
Dr. Charles C. Harris (Chuck) has been at the University of Idaho for over 20 years, where he has taught and conducted research on a wide variety of topics, including: the human dimensions of ecosystem management and restoration ecology; the impacts of resource management activities and policies on rural communities; social impact assessment and deliberative public input processes; resource management, policy, and planning; the organizational psychology of resource management; and natural resource tourism, impacts, and market analysis.
» Chuck Harris - profile

Ed Krumpe
Professor
Dr. Ed Krumpe is a Professor of Resource Recreation and Tourism in the University of Idaho College of Forestry, Wildlife and Range Sciences. In addition to his academic responsibilities, Dr. Krumpe is the Principle Scientist of Wilderness Management of the University of Idaho Wilderness Research Center, for which he served as director for six years. He has over seventeen years experience in conducting research and teaching about recreation and tourism management, wilderness and wild and scenic river planning, natural resource communication, and public involvement and conflict resolution.
» Ed Krumpe - profile

James Fazio
Professor
Resource communication, Environmental interpretation, Conservation history, Urban and community forestry
» James Fazio - profile

Larry Young
Department Head & Associate Professor
Areas of interest: Advocacy, conservation sociology, collaborative planning
» lyoung@uidaho.edu

Nick Sanyal
Associate Professor
Areas of specialization: Directing scholarship on and learning about the wildlands, communities and institutions necessary for the use, enjoyment, understanding and conservation of our natural resources; The Academic Advising- Service Learning-Teaching interface; Conservation planning; human dimensions of fish and wildlife management.
» Nick Sanyal - profile

Patrick Wilson
Associate Professor
Patrick Wilson's research interests include natural resource policy and politics, and comparative public policy; politics of species conservation, tribal government management of natural resources, and water policy and politics.
» Patrick Wilson - profile

Sam Ham
Professor; Director of Center for International Training and Outreach
Special areas of interest: Communication theory and human behavior in parks and tourism settings, Psychology of interpretation and tourism experience, Guiding and guide training, Interpretation training and interpretive planning, Natural resource communication, Nature-based tourism and eco-tourism, Parks and protected area management
» View Sam Ham's profile

Sandra Lee Pinel
Assistant Professor
Research and teaching interests: Local and regional land use planning, indigenous and community culture in planning theory and methods; cultural landscapes, multi-jurisdictional governance; limits to participatory and collaborative planning; conflict management; community economic development; epistemologies in planning cultural resource management; ethnographic research methods, social impact and contextualized case study research.
» Sandra Lee Pinel - profile

Steven Hollenhorst
Professor
» Steven Hollenhorst - profile

Tammi Laninga
Assistant Professor
Research and teaching interests: Community-based collaborative planning, Federal land management planning processes, Sustainable land use planning. Laninga has a joint appointment within CSS and the UI Bioregional Planning and Community Design program.
» Tammi Laninga - profile

Troy Hall
Associate Professor
Areas of interest: Recreation planning and management: Developing creative ways to bring stakeholders together to solve challenges created by increasing demand and sociocultural changes. In particular: (1) understanding the nature of wilderness experiences and helping managers devise acceptable management alternatives for high-use destinations; and (2) working with multiple stakeholders and land managers to understand trends and management alternatives for dispersed and developed recreation sites. Recent research includes
» Troy Hall - profile