What does a forester do?
Registered professional foresters (RPF) are the province's forest managers. They work in government, industry and private consulting. They assess the impact of every action on the forests and are responsible for the planning and approving of most forestry activities.
There are literally hundreds of different jobs that professional forester might be involved in. One of the most important is their involvement in the complex planning process that goes on in all working forests. Foresters have to put their professional seal on the document that states exactly how an area will be harvested and reforested. When foresters place their seal on a plan, they are taking personal responsibility for the balance within that plan between harvesting requirements and other forest values such as fish, wildlife, water and recreation.
In Canfor we have foresters that specialize in:
Multiple use planning, silviculture, tree genetics, regulation and compliance issues, information systems, inventory specialists, business strategies, stumpage, engineering, wildlife management, forest ecology, harvesting systems, tree nurseries, insect (entomologist) management, tree disease (pathology) management, fire management (fire fighting!!), fisheries management (includes habitat, inventories, etc.), recreation (park) management, photogrammetry (remote sensing, photo interp) - range (cattle/grass) management, forest soils, water (hydrology) management watershed management.
For more information: see the Professional Foresters web site.