The Mission of the Center for Forestry

The Mission of the Center for Forestry is to sustain forested ecosystems through scientific inquiry. Our approach is comprehensive. We seek to create and disseminate knowledge concerning ecosystem processes, human interactions and value systems, and restoration and operational management practices.

The University of California's fundamental purposes of basic and applied research, university education, and public outreach provides the organizational structure to advance our understanding of forest ecosystems and to apply this knowledge towards the goal of sustainable forest management. UC Berkeley's Center for Forestry functions as a dynamic hub where multidisciplinary research teams are organized, financial support is developed, and science-based outreach is coordinated.

The Center for Forestry is located in the College of Natural Resources on the Berkeley Campus. It also serves as part of the systemwide Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources. It assembles interdisciplinary teams of campus faculty, Cooperative Extension specialists and advisors, students, and staff from various agencies and organizations to develop research projects, outreach and public education activities, and policy analysis on issues affecting the state's forest lands.

The University of California has a long tradition of excellence in research, extension, and teaching in forestry. UC scientists have conducted research on forest lands for over a century. Forestry has had a formal degree program on the Berkeley Campus since 1914. Extension work in forestry has formally existed at UCB since 1926. The Center for Forestry provides the coordinating mechanism to allow this tradition to continue. It has both a research and an outreach mission on forestry-related issues