Leading Through Legacy

The Franke College's strong foundation shapes the role we play in building tomorrow

By Treasure Montana

April 5^th, 2024

We don't follow standards; we set them, and have been doing so for more than a century.

Our story began when the University of Montana launched a fledgling initiative to offer winter short courses for newly hired U.S. Forest Service rangers in 1908. By 1913, our School of Forestry was founded with an emphasis on scientific inquiry and sustainability. We helped build the Montana of today, and are committed to shaping an American West that retains its beauty and richness for the centuries to follow.

Having long ago outgrown the iconic Forestry Building that was constructed in 1922 to serve just 140 students — Franke College undergraduate and graduate enrollment has grown manyfold over the past century, resulting in disbursement of faculty, students and College programs in multiple buildings across campus.

Our new facility won't just be a building. It will be a hub that energizes the role we play in the future of conservation and sustainability efforts across the state and around the globe.

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UM’s 106th Foresters’ Ball Honors Firefighting History

The Foresters' Ball is a beloved campus tradition and fundraiser for students in the Franke College. The 2025 ball honored fire crews past and present, including the 12 smokejumpers and one ground-based firefighter who died in the 1949 Mann Gulch Fire. This historic event is motivation for senior forestry student Koson Verkler as he studies to join the next generation of land managers and stewards.

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We view landscape as more than scenery — it's a socio-environmental ecosystem worth cultivating and protecting long into the future.

And we know that lasting solutions require thoughtful and strategic partnerships — with our students, with the communities we serve and with those who are generous enough to support our mission.

Our relationships are intentional, bring in diverse perspectives, expertise, and funding to enrich educational experiences, and contribute to our college’s mission to protect our sense of place.

We actively contribute to influential environmental discussion, shaping outcomes through a platform we've cultivated over years of building trust, fostering partnerships and advocating for positive change.

Learn more about the W.A. Franke College of Forestry and Conservation.

Today our students, faculty and alumni are experts and change-makers.

SHAPING TOMORROW

Connect With Us

To learn more and to support the Franke College, contact Melinda Booth, senior director of development for the W.A. Franke College of Forestry and Conservation and the Wildlife Biology Program, at melinda.booth@supportum.org or 406-243-2593. You may also visit our Contact page to submit a message.