Policy on Acceptable Professional Work Experience
for 4-year Graduates Seeking Registration
June 2011
The Board is responsible for determining acceptable work experience for each applicant. NC General Statute 89B-2 (2a) defines Forestry to mean "the professional practice embracing the science, business, and the art of creating, conserving, and managing forests and forestlands for the sustained use and enjoyment of their resources, material, or other forest produce", and 89B-2 (3) defines the Practice of Forestry to mean, "rendering professional forestry services, including but not limited to, consultation, investigation, evaluation, planning, or other forestry activities requiring knowledge, training, and experience in forestry principles and techniques".
Furthermore, 89B-9(a) (1) states that applicants for registration must obtain "2 or more years of experience in forestry." Also, Administrative Rule 21 NCAC 20.0103(b) (3) requires "professional work experience in forestry," which is limited to post-graduation work experience. When determining acceptable work experience, the North Carolina Board of Registration for Foresters, using the definitions in the law, concluded that the experience should be related to working in or with the forest and the trees, and it should encompass three main characteristics: professional, comprehensive, and integrative. Professionals are highly educated and very knowledgeable in their profession. This level of knowledge is obtained through higher learning and/or extensive experience. A forester must, therefore, apply this professional knowledge in a comprehensive and integrative manner.
The Board recognizes the high diversity of work accomplished by foresters and understands that it includes a combination of professional and technical skills. Therefore, work experience acceptable to the Board for registration purposes reflects this diversity, and many different types of employment are suitable. However, the majority of the work should be at the professional level, and exhibit the broad, comprehensive science of forestry and the integrative nature of this profession. It should be at a level or type sufficiently rigorous to require a 4-year college education in forest management. All duties of employment need not reach this level, but they should comprise the majority.
Acceptable work experience includes but is not limited to: writing forest management plans, developing prescribed burn plans, preparing timber harvesting & road building plans, conducting surveys for endangered and protected species, developing control strategies for forest insects or disease infestations, conducting forestry research and publishing results, and other similar tasks that require a higher level of knowledge and experience. Teaching a course or workshop at the community college level or higher is also acceptable experience. Supervising employees who accomplish these same tasks is also satisfactory work experience.
Although many other examples are possible, when any of the following tasks dominate the work experience of the candidate, the employment is unacceptable as professional forestry work experience: operating a skidder or other heavy equipment, marking timber, felling or bucking trees, seeding roads and hillsides, application of pesticides, logging site inspections, prescribed burning, removing lumber from a green chain, planting trees, wetland delineation, right-of-way maintenance, and driving a log truck.
Applicants seeking registration should ask their employers to provide
verification of employment.
Exams
Applicants seeking registration that cannot qualify through reciprocity will need to take qualifying examinations. In order to take the exam all applications, official transcript, and payment must be in the NCBRF office two weeks before the set exam date.
For Exam Information Click here
Applicants
with a 4 year Degree in Forestry
Items the applicant
is responsible for:
- Typed application, can be typed from online form, needs
to be printed off, signed and have notarized;
- Official transcripts from accredited university;
- $50 application fee (covers cost of one exam);
- Employment verification form;
- Five (5) references, three (3) from registered foresters in
NC and only one (1) from your employing agency/firm. (Note: These
letters are distributed by the applicant and the references should
mail them directly to our office.)
Forms you will need:
NCBRF Application (MS Word Format) (Adobe PDF Format)
NCBRF Employment Verification (MS Word Format)
NCBRF Reference (MS Word Format) (Adobe PDF Format)
Applicants that do not have a 4 year
Degree in Forestry
Items the applicant is responsible for:
- Typed application, can be typed from online form, needs
to be printed off, signed and have notarized;
- Provide specific details
of experience and time frames for the work. If work was part-time,
include hours per week on the forestry work. This information
should be similar to a resume. No experience is required to apply. However, six years of forestry experience is required to become registered.;
- $50 application fee (covers cost of one exam);
- Employment verification form;
- Five (5) references, three (3) from registered foresters in
NC and only one (1) from your employing agency/firm. (Note:
These letters are distributed by the applicant and the references
should mail them directly to our office.)
Forms you will need:
NCBRF Application (MS Word Format) (Adobe PDF Format)
NCBRF Employment Verification (MS Word Format)
NCBRF Reference (MS Word Format) (Adobe PDF Format)
Applicants Requesting Reciprocity
The NC Board of Registration for Foresters has reciprocity with
the following
States: Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Maine, Mississippi and South
Carolina.
Items the applicant is responsible for:
- Typed application (Note: you do not have to complete
the reference portion of the application)
- Application needs to be signed and notarized;
- $50 application fee;
- Have state you are applying for reciprocity under fill out
registration verification form and submit to our office.
Forms you will need:
NCBRF Application (MS Word Format) (Adobe PDF Format)
NCBRF Reciprocity Verification (MS Word Format)
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