Accreditation Curriculum Standards
To be recognized by the North American Wildlife Technology Association (NAWTA), educational programs in wildlife technology shall be offered as two-year or three-year, terminal, associate degrees or their equivalent. They shall consist of classroom, indoor laboratory, and field experiences necessary to develop field competence. Correspondence programs do NOT qualify.
The program shall have clearly defined, publicly stated objectives expressed in terms of the educational results it is seeking to achieve. These objectives should express (1) the specific knowledge, skills, and attitudes sought to be imparted to the student, (2) consistency with the objectives of The Wildlife Society, (3) responsiveness to the needs of the constituencies which the program seeks to serve, and (4) sensitivity to the role of wildlife technology in meeting the increasing diverse needs of society and the profession of wildlife science and management.
Curriculum
- Minimum requirements for recognition by the North American Wildlife Technology Association are 1000 contact hours with at least 400 of the 1000 hours dedicated to laboratory instruction.
- Wildlife Technology curriculum should include instruction in these subject areas:
- Wildlife Biology & Management
- Biological & Ecological Science
- Communications Skills
- Forest Sciences or Range Science
- Quantification Skills
- Surveying, Mapping & Inventory Skills
- Fisheries & Aquatic Science
- Social & Behavioral Science
- Recreation & Safety
- Physical Science
- Law Enforcement Administration & Policy
- Mechanical Skills
- Broad content descriptions of these subject areas should be as listed below. This does NOT connote individual courses in each area, but coverage within one or several courses.
- Wildlife Biology and Management:
- Identification of vertebrate and plant species
- Collection of data on age, sex, and reproductive status
- Field note record techniques
- Knowledge of taxonomic classification and vertebrate life histories
- Habitat modification techniques
- Measurement of population parameters
- Wildlife literature
- Population dynamics
- Capture, immobilization, handling, and marking techniques
- Causes of morbidity and mortality
- Necropsy procedures
- Wildlife management history, administration, and policy
- Operation of telemetry systems
- Design and implementation of management plans
- Animal damage control
- Preservation of biological specimens
- Biological and Ecological Science:
- Ecology
- Biotic succession and biomes (ecological regions) and Botany
- Zoology / Biology
- Non-game and endangered species
- Communication Skills:
- Public speaking
- Technical writing
- Composition
Forest Science:
- Dendrology
- Forest management and protection
- Silviculture techniques
- Forest mensuration
- Silvics
Range Science
- Range plant identification
- Range ecology
- Range improvements
- Range techniques
- Quantification Skills:
- Technical mathematics
- Introduction to computer applications software
- Basic statistics
- Surveying, Mapping, and Inventory Skills:
- Basic mapping principles and techniques
- Aerial photo interpretation
- Compass techniques
- Basic surveying
- Geographical Information Systems (GIS)
- Fisheries and Aquatic Science:
- Fish identification
- Basic water chemistry
- Wetlands management
- Stream and impoundment management principles
- Fish sampling techniques
- Social and Behavioral Science:
- Public relations in natural resource management
- Personnel supervision
- Biopolitics
- Cultural aspects of wildlife and wildlife management
- Recreation and Safety:
- First aid and safety
- Outdoor recreation
- Hunter safety
- Boating safety
- Physical Science:
- Soils
- Earth Science
- Law Enforcement – Administration and Policy:
- Wildlife law
- Conservation organizations and agencies
- Enforcement procedures
- Mechanical Skills:**
- Chainsaw operation and maintenance
- Power tool operation and maintenance
- Tractor operation and maintenance
- Power boat operation and maintenance
**Due to the nature of geographic differences in North America, some of the specific categories under Mechanical Skills may not be appropriate to your area and needs. Please substitute any other mechanical skills you feel are equivalent to those on the list. The curriculum standards committee will review these substitutions on an individual basis.