Forester
Encyclopedia
A forester is a person who practices forestry
, the science, art, and profession of managing forest
s. Foresters engage in a broad range of activities including timber harvesting, ecological restoration
and management of protected areas
. Foresters manage forests to provide a variety of objectives including direct extraction of raw material
, outdoor recreation
, conservation, hunting and aesthetics. Emerging management practices
include managing forestlands for biodiversity
, carbon sequestration and air quality.
A forester is also a title used widely during Medieval times. The forester usually held a position equal to a sheriff or local law enforcer. He was responsible for patrolling the woodlands on a lord or noble's property. His duties included negotiating deals for the sale of lumber and timber and stopping poachers from illegally hunting. Many times wanted criminals would hide in a forest. When this occurred it was the duty of the Forester to organize armed gangs to capture the criminal. Often foresters held titles of prominence in their local communities, and acted as barristers and arbitrators. Their pay was usually above average and they could make a decent living.
Many people confuse the role of the forester with that of the logger
, but most foresters are concerned not only with the harvest of timber, but also with the sustainable management of forests to (in the words of Gifford Pinchot
) "provide the greatest good for the greatest number in the long term". Another notable forester, Jack Westoby, remarked that "forestry is concerned not with trees, but with how trees can serve people".
in 2008 was $53,750. Beginning foresters with bachelor's degrees make considerably less. Those with master's degrees are able to command salaries closer to the average. The Council for Higher Education Accreditation
considers the Society of American Foresters
as the principle accreditor
for academic degree programs in professional forestry, both at a Bachelor's
and Master's
level.
Usually a bachelor's degree is considered the minimum education required, but some individuals are able to secure a job without a college education based on their experience. Some states have a licensing requirement for foresters, and most of those require at least a four year degree.
Forestry
Forestry is the interdisciplinary profession embracing the science, art, and craft of creating, managing, using, and conserving forests and associated resources in a sustainable manner to meet desired goals, needs, and values for human benefit. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands...
, the science, art, and profession of managing forest
Forest
A forest, also referred to as a wood or the woods, is an area with a high density of trees. As with cities, depending where you are in the world, what is considered a forest may vary significantly in size and have various classification according to how and what of the forest is composed...
s. Foresters engage in a broad range of activities including timber harvesting, ecological restoration
Restoration ecology
-Definition:Restoration ecology is the scientific study and practice of renewing and restoring degraded, damaged, or destroyed ecosystems and habitats in the environment by active human intervention and action, within a short time frame...
and management of protected areas
Protected forest
A protected forest is a specific term to denote forests with some amount of legal, and / or constitutional protection in certain countries, besides being a generic term to denote forests where the habitat and resident species are legally accorded protection and are protected from any further...
. Foresters manage forests to provide a variety of objectives including direct extraction of raw material
Forest product
A forest product is any material derived from a forest for commercial use, such as lumber, paper, or forage for livestock. Wood, by far the dominant commercial forest product, is used for many industrial purposes, such as the finished structural materials used for the construction of buildings, or...
, outdoor recreation
Outdoor recreation
Outdoor recreation or outdoor activity is leisure pursuits engaged in outside, especially in natural or semi-natural settings out of town...
, conservation, hunting and aesthetics. Emerging management practices
Forest management
200px|thumb|right|[[Sustainable development|Sustainable]] forest management carried out by [[Complejo Forestal y Maderero Panguipulli|Complejo Panguipulli]] has contributed to the preservation of the forested landscape around [[Neltume]], a sawmill town in Chile...
include managing forestlands for biodiversity
Biodiversity
Biodiversity is the degree of variation of life forms within a given ecosystem, biome, or an entire planet. Biodiversity is a measure of the health of ecosystems. Biodiversity is in part a function of climate. In terrestrial habitats, tropical regions are typically rich whereas polar regions...
, carbon sequestration and air quality.
A forester is also a title used widely during Medieval times. The forester usually held a position equal to a sheriff or local law enforcer. He was responsible for patrolling the woodlands on a lord or noble's property. His duties included negotiating deals for the sale of lumber and timber and stopping poachers from illegally hunting. Many times wanted criminals would hide in a forest. When this occurred it was the duty of the Forester to organize armed gangs to capture the criminal. Often foresters held titles of prominence in their local communities, and acted as barristers and arbitrators. Their pay was usually above average and they could make a decent living.
Many people confuse the role of the forester with that of the logger
Lumberjack
A lumberjack is a worker in the logging industry who performs the initial harvesting and transport of trees for ultimate processing into forest products. The term usually refers to a bygone era when hand tools were used in harvesting trees principally from virgin forest...
, but most foresters are concerned not only with the harvest of timber, but also with the sustainable management of forests to (in the words of Gifford Pinchot
Gifford Pinchot
Gifford Pinchot was the first Chief of the United States Forest Service and the 28th Governor of Pennsylvania...
) "provide the greatest good for the greatest number in the long term". Another notable forester, Jack Westoby, remarked that "forestry is concerned not with trees, but with how trees can serve people".
USA
The median salary of foresters in the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in 2008 was $53,750. Beginning foresters with bachelor's degrees make considerably less. Those with master's degrees are able to command salaries closer to the average. The Council for Higher Education Accreditation
Council for Higher Education Accreditation
The Council for Higher Education Accreditation is a United States organization of degree-granting colleges and universities. It identifies its purpose as providing national advocacy for self-regulation of academic quality through accreditation in order to certify the quality of higher education...
considers the Society of American Foresters
Society of American Foresters
The Society of American Foresters is a scientific and educational 501 non-profit organization, representing the forestry profession in the United States of America...
as the principle accreditor
Educational accreditation
Educational accreditation is a type of quality assurance process under which services and operations of educational institutions or programs are evaluated by an external body to determine if applicable standards are met...
for academic degree programs in professional forestry, both at a Bachelor's
Bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...
and Master's
Master's degree
A master's is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...
level.
Usually a bachelor's degree is considered the minimum education required, but some individuals are able to secure a job without a college education based on their experience. Some states have a licensing requirement for foresters, and most of those require at least a four year degree.
Notable foresters
- Geoffrey ChaucerGeoffrey ChaucerGeoffrey Chaucer , known as the Father of English literature, is widely considered the greatest English poet of the Middle Ages and was the first poet to have been buried in Poet's Corner of Westminster Abbey...
(1343–1400) - John MuirJohn MuirJohn Muir was a Scottish-born American naturalist, author, and early advocate of preservation of wilderness in the United States. His letters, essays, and books telling of his adventures in nature, especially in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California, have been read by millions...
(1838-1914) ["Father of the National Parks"] - John Ednie Brown (1848–1899)
- Dietrich BrandisDietrich BrandisSir Dietrich Brandis, KCIE, FRS was a German forester who worked in India. He is considered the father of tropical forestry.-Early life:...
(1824–1907) - Aimo CajanderAimo CajanderAimo Kaarlo Cajander was, outside of botany, best known as Prime Minister of Finland up to the Winter War....
(1879–1943) - Carl von CarlowitzHans Carl von CarlowitzHans Carl von Carlowitz, originally Hannß Carl von Carlowitz, was a German tax accountant and mining administrator. His book Sylvicultura oeconomica, oder haußwirthliche Nachricht und Naturmäßige Anweisung zur wilden Baum-Zucht was the first comprehensive treatise about forestry...
(1645–1714) - Hugh Francis CleghornHugh Francis CleghornHugh Francis Clarke Cleghorn of Stravithie was a pioneering Scottish physician, botanist and forester who worked in India...
(1820–1895) - Jean-Baptiste ColbertJean-Baptiste ColbertJean-Baptiste Colbert was a French politician who served as the Minister of Finances of France from 1665 to 1683 under the rule of King Louis XIV. His relentless hard work and thrift made him an esteemed minister. He achieved a reputation for his work of improving the state of French manufacturing...
(1619–1683) - John EvelynJohn EvelynJohn Evelyn was an English writer, gardener and diarist.Evelyn's diaries or Memoirs are largely contemporaneous with those of the other noted diarist of the time, Samuel Pepys, and cast considerable light on the art, culture and politics of the time John Evelyn (31 October 1620 – 27 February...
(1620–1706) - Bernhard Fernow (1851–1923)
- Douglas HamiltonDouglas HamiltonGeneral Douglas Hamilton was a British Indian Army officer, gazetted to the 21st Regiment of the Madras Native Infantry from 1837 to 1871. He was a well known surveyor of the early British hill stations in South India and a famous sportsman, shikari, big-game hunter and trophy collector. He was an...
(1820–1895) - Georg Ludwig HartigGeorg Ludwig HartigGeorg Ludwig Hartig , German agriculturist and writer on forestry, was born at Gladenbach, in Hesse.- Life :...
(1764–1837) - Ralph HosmerRalph HosmerRalph Sheldon Hosmer was Hawaii's first territorial forester, a contemporary of Gifford Pinchot who was among the group of educated American foresters that organized what is now the U. S. Forest Service...
(1874–1963) - Norman JollyNorman JollyNorman William Jolly was born in Mintaro, South Australia. He attended Prince Alfred College and the University of Adelaide , and was awarded the first South Australian Rhodes Scholarship . After graduating B.A...
(1882–1954) - Hamish Kimmins
- Aldo LeopoldAldo LeopoldAldo Leopold was an American author, scientist, ecologist, forester, and environmentalist. He was a professor at the University of Wisconsin and is best known for his book A Sand County Almanac , which has sold over two million copies...
(1887–1948) - Tim McKayTim McKayTimothy J. McKay was the executive director of the non-profit Northcoast Environmental Center in Arcata, California, for virtually its entire 35-year existence....
(1947–2006) - Gifford PinchotGifford PinchotGifford Pinchot was the first Chief of the United States Forest Service and the 28th Governor of Pennsylvania...
(1865–1946) - Christian Ditlev Frederik, Count ReventlowChristian Ditlev Frederik, Count ReventlowChristian Ditlev Frederik, Count of Reventlow was a Danish statesman and reformer, the son of Privy Councillor Christian Ditlev Reventlow by his first wife, baroness Johanne Sophie Frederikke von Bothmer....
(1748–1827) - Roy Robinson, 1st Baron RobinsonRoy Robinson, 1st Baron RobinsonRoy Lister Robinson, 1st Baron Robinson OBE , known as Sir Roy Robinson between 1931 and 1947, was a British forester and public servant.-Background and education:...
(1883–1952) - Viktor SchaubergerViktor SchaubergerViktor Schauberger was an Austrian forester/forest warden, naturalist, philosopher, inventor and Biomimicry experimenter....
(1885–1958) - Vijaypal Baghel (Ecoman)
- Carl A. SchenckCarl A. SchenckCarl Alwyn Schenck was a pioneering forestry educator in North America, known for his contributions as the forester for George W. Vanderbilt's Biltmore Estate, and the founder of the Biltmore Forest School in 1898, near Asheville, NC....
(1868–1955) - Sir William P.D. Schlich (1840–1925)
- F.X. Schumacher (1892–1967)
- Israel af StrömIsrael af StrömIsrael af Ström was a Swedish forest researcher and founder of Sweden's national Forestry Institute.He was elected a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in 1838....
(1778–1856) - T. B. WalkerT. B. WalkerThomas Barlow Walker was a highly successful American businessperson who acquired timber in Minnesota and California and became an art collector. Walker founded the Minneapolis Public Library. He was among the 10 wealthiest men in the world in 1923. He built two company towns, one of which his son...
(1840–1928) - Jack Westoby
- Dr. Harry V. Wiant
- Raphael ZonRaphael ZonRaphael Zon was a prominent U.S. Forest Service researcher.- Early Life :Raphael Zon was born in Simbirsk in the Russian Empire in 1874, to parents Gabriel Zon and Eugenia Berliner. A classmate of Lenin's, he fled Russia in 1896 while on bail following arrest for organizing a trade union...
(1874–1956)
See also
- ForestryForestryForestry is the interdisciplinary profession embracing the science, art, and craft of creating, managing, using, and conserving forests and associated resources in a sustainable manner to meet desired goals, needs, and values for human benefit. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands...
- List of forestry universities and colleges
- Forestry CommissionForestry CommissionThe Forestry Commission is a non-ministerial government department responsible for forestry in Great Britain. Its mission is to protect and expand Britain's forests and woodlands and increase their value to society and the environment....
- Ancient Order of ForestersAncient Order of ForestersThe Ancient Order of Foresters is a friendly society which was formed in 1834. The society is now known as Foresters Friendly Society, and has approximately 70,000 members...
- Independent Order of Foresters
- Society of American ForestersSociety of American ForestersThe Society of American Foresters is a scientific and educational 501 non-profit organization, representing the forestry profession in the United States of America...