What is a Registered Professional Forester (RPF)?

The California Licensed Foresters Association provides the following background on Registered Professional Foresters (RPFs). As you can see, RPFs have a lot of responsibility and are required to have an extremely broad range of knowledge and expertise.

A Registered Professional Forester is licensed by the State of California to perform professional services that require the application of forestry principles and techniques to the management of forested landscapes.

RPFs have an understanding of forest growth, development, and regeneration; soils, geology, and hydrology; wildlife and fisheries biology and other forest resources. RPFs are also trained in fire management and, if involved in timber harvesting operations, have expertise in forest road design and application of the various methods used to harvest timber.

RPFs are typically involved in:

• Preparing forest and land management plans.
• Monitoring and assessing forest health, and developing management strategies for protecting the forest from insects, disease, and wildfire.
• Preparing and maintaining inventories of forest resources.
• Measuring standing timber volume and appraising its market value.
• Preparing Timber Harvesting Plans (THPs). In California, under current law, if trees are to be harvested for commercial purposes, a RPF must prepare a THP for review and approval by state agencies. Section 757.0 of the Public Resources Code provides for a landowner exemption, which allows a landowner who is a natural person to perform forestry activities on their own property without being licensed. Landowners should decide for themselves whether or not this exemption applies to them in a given situation. However, except for Conversion THPs, the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection will not accept a THP or Conversion Exemption for filing unless it has been prepared by a Registered Professional Forester.]
• Marketing forest products.
• Preparing plans to rehabilitate forests damaged by wildfire or other destructive natural forces.
• Managing wildlife habitat.
• Analyzing wildfire hazard.
• Participating on teams with other natural resource professionals in the development and preparation of environmental assessments, environmental impact reports/statements.
• Providing expert testimony during litigation.
• Managing community watersheds for water and timber production.
• Providing information to forest landowners to increase their knowledge of forest ecology and management.

In California, a person acting in the capacity of a professional forester or identifying him/herself as a professional forester is required to be licensed by the state. To become a RPF, the following minimum qualifications must be met:

• Be an individual of good moral character who also possesses a good reputation for honesty and integrity. No firm, company, partnership, or corporation can get a professional foresters license.
• Have seven years of experience in forestry work. A person may substitute a Bachelor of Science in Forestry for four years of work experience.
• Pass a comprehensive examination administered by the Professional Foresters Examining Committee with a score of 75% or greater.

Filing a complaint against a RPF

If you feel that an RPF has failed to perform in a prudent professional manner, you can submit a formal complaint to the Professional Foresters Examining Committee which has a legal mandate to review complaints and make disciplinary recommendations to the State Board of Forestry.

A formal complaint must be in writing with an original signature. Refer to Policy Number 9 for Professional Foresters Registration for information and verification required. The complaint should be submitted to: Professional Foresters Registration, PO Box 944246, Sacramento, CA 94244-2460.

Information on what constitutes causes of action are found in Policy Number 7 for Professional Foresters Registration. A more complete discussion on filing a complaint can be found on the Board of Forestry and Fire Protection website at http://www.fire.ca.gov/BOF/pdfs/FilingComplaint_RPF.pdf.

—For more information on Registered Professional Foresters go to the California Licensed Foresters website at http://www.clfa.org and the California Board of Forestry and Fire Protection site at http://www.fire.ca.gov/BOF/BOF.asp.