Certified Foresters: Becoming a Certified Forester

Eligibility Requirements

To qualify to take the certification examination, all applicants must meet the following eligibility requirements.

Only current Certified Foresters qualify for the Certified Forester/Forest Certification Auditor exam.

Commitment to CF Standards of Professional Practice

Every Certified Forester or Candidate Certified Forester and applicant agrees to the CF Standards of Professional Practice. Signing the Certification Examination Application indicates acceptance of and willingness to comply with the Standards.

Education Requirement

Minimum education criterion can be met through one of two options. It is the responsibility of the applicant to demonstrate that he or she meets fully all eligibility criteria before being granted permission to sit for the CF examination.

Option 1
For applicants having an earned professional degree from an SAF-accredited or SAF-candidate curriculum at the baccalaureate or master's level.

NOTE: No associate, doctoral, or non-US degree programs, and very few masters' degree programs, are or have ever been SAF-accredited.

A list of institutions with accredited programs can be found on the SAF website. Please verify that a degree is accredited. SAF staff is able to assist you in determining whether your degree was received from an accredited program.

Option 2
For applicants having a substantially equivalent earned professional degree from a non-SAF accredited curriculum at the baccalaureate level or higher.

A substantially equivalent degree must include a minimum of eleven courses across four broad areas of study as follows:

a. Forest Ecology and Biology
b. Measurement of Forest Resources
c. Management of Forest Resources
d. Forest Resource Policy and Administration
A full description on each area is available

NOTE: Most doctoral and masters' degrees are non-equivalent degrees.

Every applicant must submit an original certified final transcript showing the date and name of the professional forestry degree earned. Photocopies will not be accepted.

Forestry graduates from all countries are invited to apply for certification; however, collegiate credits taken outside the United States often vary from the American system. Applicants who have earned credits from non-US programs must organize and present course titles, credits, and contents in the format listed in the application.

Experience Requirement

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 on 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.