Information About Foresters

By Carey Bourdier


If you have a love of nature and its preservation, one job that you might consider is that of a forester. This is a field of highly trained and educated individuals who love to work outdoors and ensure the proper management of our forests and the logging industry. This is also an ancient profession that dates back to medieval times.

In ancient times, the forester was a type of law enforcement agent. This person monitored the forest lands of kings and lords, ensuring that poachers were not illegally killing the forest animals, managing game and also sometimes hunting down criminals that might be hiding in the woods. In addition, the forester also dealt with the sale and usage of timber grown on the property. Before he gained famed as the author of The Canterbury Tales, Geoffrey Chaucer worked as a forester in Somerset, England.

The job of modern foresters generally no longer involves capturing pheasant poachers, but instead focuses on tasks such as forestry management and finding ways to preserve and sustain forests. Training for this job includes earning a degree in some type of forestry, and there are two-year certificate programs, bachelor's degrees, master's degrees and even doctorate in different types of forestry. Universities around the world offer many types of forestry degrees.

For timber foresters, their job typically lies within the guise of logging and timber operations. They help with everything from planting to knowing which trees to cut and when. The ultimate goal of this type of forestry management is to make the logging operation as sustainable as possible, while still keeping the business profitable. In addition, sometimes foresters deal with the buying or selling of timber.

A conservation forester is another type of forester that deals primarily with the management of public forests and forests not used for logging purposes, although they do consult for logging operations. They provide information about forest inventory, age and health as well as often making recommendations about proper management. To do this, they use a variety of tools, including an inclinometer, which is sometimes called a clinometer and helps determine tree height by measuring the angles of tilt or slop. A device called a hypsometer is used to determine the diameter of a tree, and an increment borer will be used to take samples so the forester can determine tree age and study tree rings.

While foresters spend a good deal of time studying trees, their goal is usually to manage many components within an entire forest area. This includes collecting a wide range of data about the flora and fauna of an area, as well as studying the watershed. Studying all of the elements of an ecosystem helps the forester make recommendations about how best to preserve, repair or maintain the forest in question.




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