Natural Resources Law Enforcement and Protective Services

Types of Degrees Natural Resources Law Enforcement and Protective Services Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many environmental/natural resources law enforcement and protective services graduations there were for each degree level during the last year for which data was available.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Bachelor’s Degree	76
Associate Degree	73
Basic Certificate	32
Master’s Degree	10
Undergraduate Certificate	1
Graduate Certificate	1

What Natural Resources Law Enforcement and Protective Services Majors Need to Know

O*NET surveyed people in occupations related to natural resources law enforcement and protective services and asked them what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important for their jobs. The responses were rated on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being most important.

Knowledge Areas for Natural Resources Law Enforcement and Protective Services Majors

According to O*NET survey takers, a major in natural resources law enforcement and protective services should prepare you for careers in which you will need to be knowledgeable in the following areas:

• Public Safety and Security - Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
• Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
• Law and Government - Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
• Education and Training - Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.

Skills for Natural Resources Law Enforcement and Protective Services Majors

The following list of skills has been highlighted as some of the most essential for careers related to natural resources law enforcement and protective services:

• Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
• Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• Monitoring - Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
• Coordination - Adjusting actions in relation to others’ actions.

Abilities for Natural Resources Law Enforcement and Protective Services Majors

As a natural resources law enforcement and protective services major, you will find yourself needing the following abilities:

• Problem Sensitivity - The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.
• Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
• Inductive Reasoning - The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).

What Can You Do With a Natural Resources Law Enforcement and Protective Services Major?

Below is a list of occupations associated with natural resources law enforcement and protective services:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Fire Investigators	7.3%	$62,510
First-Line Supervisors of Police and Detectives	6.6%	$89,030
Fish and Game Wardens	4.3%	$57,710
Forest Fire Fighting and Prevention Supervisors	7.1%	$76,330
Forest Fire Inspectors and Prevention Specialists	29.4%	$39,600
Lifeguards, Ski Patrol, and Other Recreational Protective Service Workers	7.6%	$22,410
Municipal Firefighters	7.2%	$49,620
Police and Sheriff’s Patrol Officers	7.0%	$61,380

Who Is Getting a Bachelor’s Degree in Natural Resources Law Enforcement and Protective Services?

This major attracts more men than women. About 84% of the graduates in this field are male.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of natural resources law enforcement and protective services majors is as follows:

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	0
Black or African American	0
Hispanic or Latino	5
White	65
International Students	0
Other Races/Ethnicities	6

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to Natural Resources Law Enforcement and Protective Services

Some careers associated with natural resources law enforcement and protective services require an advanced degree while some may not even require a bachelor’s. In general, the more advanced your degree the more career options will open up to you. However, there is significant time and money that needs to be invested into your education so weigh the pros and cons.

Find out what the typical degree level is for natural resources law enforcement and protective services careers below.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
Less than a High School Diploma	4.3%
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	30.4%
Post-Secondary Certificate - awarded for training completed after high school (for example, in agriculture or natural resources, computer services, personal or culinary services, engineering technologies, healthcare, construction trades, mechanic and repair technologies, or precision production)	14.9%
Some College Courses	17.7%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	12.3%
Bachelor’s Degree	18.8%
Post-Baccalaureate Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Baccalaureate degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees carrying the title of Master.	0.5%
Master’s Degree	1.1%
First Professional Degree - awarded for completion of a program that: requires at least 2 years of college work before entrance into the program, includes a total of at least 6 academic years of work to complete, and provides all remaining academic requirements to begin practice in a profession.	1.0%

Online Natural Resources Law Enforcement and Protective Services Programs

The following table lists the number of programs by degree level, along with how many schools offered online courses in the field.

Degree Level	Colleges Offering Programs	Colleges Offering Online Classes
Certificate (Less Than 1 Year)	0	0
Certificate (1-2 years)	2	0
Certificate (2-4 Years)	0	0
Associate’s Degree	11	0
Bachelor’s Degree	2	1
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	2	1
Post-Master’s	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Majors Related to Natural Resources Law Enforcement and Protective Services

You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to natural resources law enforcement and protective services.

Major	Number of Grads
Environmental/Natural Resources Management and Policy	1,679
Water, Wetlands, & Marine Resources Management	365
Environmental/Natural Resources Management & Policy, Other	345
Environmental/Natural Resource Economics	214
Environmental/Natural Resource Recreation and Tourism	185
Land Use Planning & Management/Development	85
Energy and Environmental Policy	81

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• College Scorecard
• National Center for Education Statistics
• O*NET Online
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers First Quarter 2020
• Image Credit: By Brian M. Powell under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.