Editing Forester

{{short description|Person who practices forest management}}
{{other uses}}
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[[File:Sanpablotregua.JPG|thumb|Foresters of [[Southern University of Chile]] in the [[Valdivian forest]]s of San Pablo de Tregua, [[Chile]].]]
A '''forester''' is a person who practises [[forest management]] and [[forestry]], the science, art, and profession of managing [[forest]]s. Foresters engage in a broad range of activities including [[Restoration ecology|ecological restoration]] and management of [[Protected forest|protected areas]]. Foresters manage forests to provide a variety of objectives including direct extraction of [[Forest product|raw material]], [[outdoor recreation]], conservation, hunting and aesthetics. Emerging [[Forest management|management practices]] include managing forestlands for [[biodiversity]], [[carbon sequestration]] and air quality.

Foresters work for the [[timber industry]], government agencies, [[Conservation group|conservation groups]], local authorities, [[Urban area|urban]] parks boards, citizens' associations, and private [[Landowner|landowners]]. The forestry profession includes a wide diversity of jobs, with educational requirements ranging from college bachelor's degrees to PhDs for highly specialized work. 

Industrial foresters plan forest regeneration starting with careful harvesting. Urban foresters manage trees in [[Urban green space|urban green spaces]]. Foresters work in [[Plant nursery|tree nurseries]] growing [[Seedling|seedlings]] for woodland creation or regeneration projects. Foresters improve tree [[genetics]]. Forest engineers develop new building systems. Professional foresters [[Timber cruise|measure]] and [[Growth and yield modelling|model]] the growth of forests with tools like [[GIS|geographic information systems]]. Foresters may combat [[insect]] infestation, disease, forest and [[grassland]] [[wildfire]], but increasingly allow these natural aspects of forest [[Ecosystem|ecosystems]] to run their course when the likelihood of [[Epidemic|epidemics]] or risk of life or property are low. Increasingly, foresters participate in wildlife [[Conservation movement|conservation]] planning and [[Drainage basin|watershed]] protection. Foresters have been mainly concerned with timber management, especially [[reforestation]],  forests at prime conditions, and fire control.

Many people confuse the role of the forester with that of the [[Lumberjack|logger]], but most foresters are concerned not only with the harvest of timber, but also with the [[Sustainable forestry|sustainable management]] of forests. The forester Jack C. Westoby remarked that "forestry is concerned not with trees, but with how trees can serve people".<ref>{{cite book |last=Westoby |first=Jack |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cRGKHAAACAAJ |title=The Purpose of Forests: Follies of Development |date=1987 |publisher=Basil Blackwell |isbn=0631171436 |location=Oxford |page=xii |access-date=27 December 2020}}</ref>

== Career ==

===United States===
[[File:Glenn Casamassa, USDA Forest Service Pacific Northwest Region Regional Forester - cropped.png|thumb|Forester Glenn Casamassa, [[U.S. Forest Service]] Regional Forester in the Pacific Northwest Region]]
The median salary of foresters in the [[United States]] was $53,750, in 2008.<ref>[http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos048.htm] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101106205746/http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos048.htm|date=November 6, 2010}}</ref>  Beginning foresters without 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 principal [[Educational accreditation|accreditor]] for academic degree programs in professional forestry, both at a [[Bachelor's degree|Bachelor's]] and [[Master's degree|Master's]] level.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.chea.org/userfiles/Recognition/SAF.pdf|title=COUNCIL FOR HIGHER EDUCATION ACCREDITATION|date=2015|website=www.chea.org}}</ref>

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.

Foresters are often employed by private industry, federal and state [[land management]] agencies, or private consulting firms.<ref>{{cite web |title=Choose forestry |url=http://www.safnet.org/fs/careerbro.pdf |website=Society of American Foresters |access-date=2022-11-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304135450/http://www.safnet.org/fs/careerbro.pdf |archive-date=2016-03-04 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Medieval foresters==

'''Forester''' was a title used widely during [[Medieval]] times. The forester usually held a position equal to a sheriff or local law enforcer, and he could act as a barrister or arbiter. He was often based in a [[forester's lodge]], and was responsible for patrolling the woodlands on a lord or noble's property, hence the synonymous term 'woodward'. His duties included negotiating sales of lumber and timber and stopping poachers from illegally hunting. Frequently outlaws would take refuge in heavily wooded regions. When this occurred it was the duty of the forester to organize armed [[Posse comitatus (common law)|posse]]s to capture or disperse the criminals and during war time foresters were used as scouts to spy on enemy troop movement.
The pay and status of foresters was usually above average,<ref>{{Cite web|url = http://hkcarms.tripod.com/oc8.html|title = Medieval Occupations|access-date = 9 March 2015}}</ref> reflecting the responsibility of their role in a medieval environment and economy.

==Notable foresters==
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*[[Margaret Stoughton Abell]] (1908–2004) - First American research forester in US Forest Service.
*[[Dietrich Brandis]] (1824–1907)
* [[Ralph E. Brock]] (1881–1959), first Black forester in the United States
* [[John Ednie Brown]] (1848–1899)
*[[Aimo Cajander]] (1879–1943) - Professor of forestry and Director-General of Forest and Park Service in Finland.
*[[Hans Carl von Carlowitz|Carl von Carlowitz]] (1645–1714) - Father of [[sustainable yield]] forestry
*[[Geoffrey Chaucer]] (1343–1400)
*[[Hugh Francis Cleghorn]] (1820–1895)
*[[Jean-Baptiste Colbert]] (1619–1683)
*[[John Evelyn]] (1620–1706)
*[[Bernhard Fernow]] (1851–1923)
*[[Douglas Hamilton]] (1820–1895)
*[[Georg Ludwig Hartig]] (1764–1837)
*[[Ralph Hosmer]] (1874–1963)
*[[Jens Hvass]]
*[[Norman Jolly]] (1882–1954)
*[[Charles Lane Poole]] (1885–1970)
*[[Aldo Leopold]] (1887–1948)
*[[Michel de Montaigne]] (1533–1592) ["Man of essays and wood"]
*[[John Muir]] (1838–1914) ["Father of  National Parks"]
*[[Herman von Nördlinger]] (1818–1897) 
*[[Gifford Pinchot]] (1865–1946)
*[[Christian Ditlev Frederik Reventlow]] (1748–1827)
*[[Roy Robinson, 1st Baron Robinson]] (1883–1952)
*[[Viktor Schauberger]] (1885–1958)
*[[Carl A. Schenck]] (1868–1955)
*[[Sir William P.D. Schlich]] (1840–1925)
*[[F.X. Schumacher]] (1892–1967)
*[[Richard St. Barbe Baker]] (1889–1982) Global Forester/Environmentalist 
*[[Israel af Ström]] (1778–1856)
*[[Michael Taylor (forester)|Michael Taylor]] (b. 1966) - American Forester who discovered [[Hyperion (tree)]] and many tall redwood trees.
*[[T. B. Walker]] (1840–1928)
* Jack C. Westoby (1913–1988)<ref>[http://www.nzjf.org/free_issues/NZJF34_2_1989/CC73E8C4-6EFD-4668-9415-82F61BDFB217.pdf Leslie, Alf. 1989. "Obituary: Jack C. Westoby, C.M.G., 1913-1988," ''New Zealand Forestry'', August, p.28.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140929221422/http://www.nzjf.org/free_issues/NZJF34_2_1989/CC73E8C4-6EFD-4668-9415-82F61BDFB217.pdf |date=2014-09-29 }} Accessed: May 7, 2012.</ref>
* [[Peter Wohlleben]] - German forester.
*[[Raphael Zon]] (1874–1956)
*[[Frank H. Wadsworth]] (1915–2022)
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==See also==
{{Portal|Trees}}
*[[Arborist]]
*[[List of forest research institutes]]
*[[List of forestry universities and colleges]]
*[[Reeve (England)]]
*[[Society of American Foresters]]
*[[Institute of Chartered Foresters]]
*[[Verderer]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons category|Foresters}}
*[http://safnet.org/education/forestry_degree_programs.pdf SAF Accredited Professional Forestry Degree Programs]
*[http://safnet.org/education/tech_rec011907.pdf SAF Recognized Forest Technology Degree Programs]
*[http://www.cifor.cgiar.org/ Center for International Forestry Research]
*[http://www.iufro.org/ International Union of Forest Research Organizations]
*[http://www.fao.org/forestry/index.jsp FAO Forestry Department] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060219085954/http://www.fao.org/forestry/index.jsp |date=2006-02-19 }}
*[http://www.nationalforest.org/ The National Forest (England)]
*[http://www.forestry.gov.uk/ Forestry Commission (Great Britain)]

{{Forestry}}
{{Forestry tools}}

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[[Category:Foresters]]
[[Category:History of forestry]]