Criterion 7. Legal, Institutional, and Economic Framework for Forest Conservation and
Sustainable Management
National Report on Sustainable Forests—2010
Indicator 7.52.
Extent to Which the Institutional Framework Supports the Conservation and Sustainable
Management of Forests, Including the Capacity To Develop and Maintain Human Resource
Skills Across Relevant Disciplines
What is the indicator and why is it important?
The extensive knowledge and skills applied by people who
are engaged in the development and implementation of forest
resource policies and programs are critical to accomplishing
the wide-ranging goals of forest sustainability and conservation. These disciplinary and resource skills are developed via
formal educational programs for field workers, technical staff,
and natural resource professionals, and via professional work
experiences and access to continuing education opportunities.
What does the indicator show?
Various national and State laws and regulations exist that affect
worker safety and training in the forestry sector. Most laws and
regulations would fall under the auspices of the Occupational
Health and Safety Administration (OSHA), and similar State
agencies. Related laws cover highway and trucking safety
and operator licensing. These laws require the use of safety
equipment, training in safe operations, and now, use of Best
Management Practices to avoid adverse environmental impacts.
Most of the actual education and training is conducted by
States, either through their educational institutions such as
Land Grant universities or community colleges, or through
their industry trade associations in cooperation with the
relevant State agencies. They also offer technical assistance,
research on better methods and procedures, and planning to
improve performance.
Similarly, education is provided for forest resource professionals, in addition to field forest workers. This professional
education effort is led by accredited forestry programs in most
States and complemented by research and extension efforts.
Bachelor of Science and graduate degree programs associated
with this effort are often complemented by State registration
and licensing programs or the national Society of American
Foresters Certified Forester program.
Professional education is offered for other forest-related
disciplines, including wildlife and fisheries, natural resources,
soils and hydrology, environmental sciences, ecology, and others. Several of these, but not all, have professional certification
or registration procedures. Some private and public institutions
offer forestry programs as well, for field operators, technicians,
and professionals.
As of 2009, 2,244 certified foresters were recognized by the
Society of American Foresters. This number included forestry
consultants (25 percent), personnel in private industry (24 percent),
State and local government (19 percent), Federal Government
(9 percent), and college and university (7 percent), along with
Table 52-1. Policy and Governance Classification.
Mechanism
Nondiscretionary/mandatorya
Informational/educationalb
Discretionary/voluntaryc
Fiscal/economicd
Market basede
Scale:
National (N),
Regional (R),
State (S),
Local (L)
N, S
N, S
N, L
Approach
Prescriptive
L, R
Process or
Systems Based
Performance or
Outcome Based
Private
Enterprise
L, R, G
E, T, R, A
E
E, R
M
M
M
Laws (L), Regulations or Rules (R), International Agreements (I), Government Ownership or Production (G).
b
Education (E), Technical Assistance (T), Research (R), Protection (P), Analysis and Planning (A).
c
Best Management Practices (B), Self-regulation (S).
d
Incentives (I), Subsidies (S), Taxes (T), Payments for Environmental Service (P).
e
Free enterprise, private market allocation of forest resources (M), or market based instruments and payments, including forest certification (C) wetland banks (W), capand-trade (T), conservation easement or transfer of development rights (E).
a
Last Updated June 2011 1
National Report on Sustainable Forests—2010
retirees (7 percent) and other (9 percent). There also were 15
States with separate forestry registration laws and thousands
of registered foresters; most programs required continuing
education as part of their requirements. Similarly, The Wildlife
Society had 3,658 certified wildlife biologists in 2009.
efforts to improve trucking and logger training are pervasive,
and rules about trucking safety and regulations are common.
Forest certification has affected training for foresters and in
particular for persons who perform audits. Some State forestry
registration laws have been eliminated or threatened as part of
periodic State budget cuts and reviews.
What has changed since 2003?
Laws and regulations affecting human resources and skills have
continued to evolve incrementally over the last decade. State
Last Updated June 2011 2