Certified Forester Experience Requirements

Certified Forester® Credential

Each applicant must demonstrate proficiency in two or more of the following four areas of professional forestry-related work experience:

a) Resource Assessment

b) Stakeholder Analysis and Relations

c) Management Planning

d) Execution of Management Plan

A full description of each area is available.

Each applicant must have five-years or more of qualifying professional experience within the past 10 years, and can only include experience following conferral of the first forestry degree. Employment prior to conferral of first qualifying degree, including academic internships and cooperative work agreements, cannot count toward the experience requirement.

Candidate Certified Forester Credential

Applicants must have less than five-years of qualifying experience in the past 10-years upon receipt of the application. Applicants do not need any professional forestry-related experience to apply for the Candidate Certified Forester credential.

Qualifying experience must follow the conferral of the first qualifying forestry degree. Employment prior to graduation, including academic internships and cooperative work agreements, cannot count toward the experience requirement.

Experience Credit for Advanced Education

Time spent in pursuit of an advanced academic degree may be credited toward professional experience, subject to the following:

- A maximum of one (1) year of experience credit will be allowed for completion of the master's degree, a maximum of two (2) years' credit for the PhD, and a maximum of three (3) years' credit for a master's and PhD.

- Experience credit will be given only upon completion of advanced degree(s) in forest resources management or a closely related discipline.

- Applicants requesting experience credit for advanced degree work in forestry or a closely related discipline must request this credit on the Professional Experience Form of the CF application.