I got arrested my junior year of high school, and got expelled. I ended up graduating 4 months later through an independent study program at the community college. I graduated a year early, and started my freshman year at my local community college whilst my classmates started their senior years.
My second year of CC I got arrested again, did 5 months time, but learned alot of valuable lessons, as well as skills. (I was in the top 60 prisoners of NC and got to go out and build nature trails and fight wildfire.) So when I got out in May 2009, I wanted to do an outdoor degree. That fall I started Lees-McRae College in Banner Elk, NC majoring in wildlife rehabilitation. I loved the wildlife center, I made some awesome friends, but LMC is a crappy private school (i was paying 7k, tuition was 30k). After interning at the center for a year and failing all my classes except wildlife rehab, PE and English (and 1 sociology class), I decided to drop out of LMC.
I took last year off and worked/bummed around for a year. This past fall I decided I wanted to go back to school. I have ~80 credits that range from stats and botany, to religion and wildlife.
Now I attend Haywood Community College (outside Ashville, NC) for Forest Resource Management. I know it's a CC, but it has the most prestigious forestry program on the east coast. Also, the county were in is the most biologically diverse for tree species in the nation, and were ~40 minutes from Great Smoky Mtn Natl Park.
The school offers both Forestry and Wildlife Management as two-year degrees, and basically ensures a job after graduation as long as you did well in school. I want to be a wildland firefighter, which requires no degree. I just think having this degree will help with future outdoor jobs as well being an interesting subject.
Also, I attend school for free, but I took out a loan for living expenses (apt, comp, etc) for 5k.
It's awesome, because the only classes I have to take are Forestry or biology, since all my "basics" have been done for a long time. This semester I have two classes, Botany and Forest Measurements. Awesome schedule
But we have labs and go out in the woods weekly, and you learn tons of important conservation information, regardless of your professional intents (warden, wildfire, private-timber, research, etc)
And to answer, is college necessary? Hell no!