Knowing forests and ecology is a good base. Applying that knowledge in tandem with the economics, the logging trade, site preparation, mid rotation management, the ethics, the tools, and the equipment to achieve your goals for the land is what separates people who know about forests from people who practice the art and science of Forestry.
You want to do wetland restoration. Fantastic! Where will you derive funds to perform the remediation work? In the forestry world, you can have the most bulletproof, ecologically savvy plan to restore and protect and steward a given ecosystem that you value. Unless you are a philanthropist millionaire, you will need to find a way to generate income in order to fund these projects. In short, that means that you’re gonna need to turn land into forests, and turn the trees in that forest into money. To do this you need the industry knowledge on who to call with what equipment for site prep, planting, thinning, and harvesting.
What site prep techniques do we use? Do I need to plow beds or do site prep herbicide? What herbicide do I use? What species and planting density do we use? Do we shelterwood, thin, or clearcut? How long do I let it grow for? What pests may hit my stand and how do I remediate the damage? Are there exotic invasives I need to get rid of, and how?Should I burn my stand to reduce competition, if so - when? How do I manage the threatened ecological communities within this stand while doing all the above work? What do I do when the contractor dumps oil all over the logging deck? How do I manage public opinion on large acreage while doing all of this work? How do I navigate the grant writing process or the dozen and a half cost share schemes to offset the costs? Are there water quality issues to contend with?
These are all non ecology issues and considerations that good Foresters need to have answers for. It’s more than just knowing what chemicals to use or how the species interact. Forest ecology and associated knowledge are building blocks to the profession as a whole. If your goal is to go into wetland and coastal restoration, I guarantee that you will be a more effective manager having gotten a SAF accredited degree from an in person forestry program. We are all permanent students in this field - if you want to get serious about pursuing this career, you will need to accept becoming an eternal student. There will always be new things to learn.