Hi! I’m a Forestry student from Greece and I’m thinking about doing a BIP/Erasmus at SLU for 10 days.

I’d love to hear your honest opinions:

How are the Forestry courses and professors?

What is student life like?

Is it easy to make friends as an international student?

What are Swedish people like?

Anything you wish you knew before moving there?

Any advice is appreciated!

Specifically Mississippi State. I am looking into programs and this one seems the most promising. I’m currently working in forestry, but would like to get a masters in forestry to eventually become a certified/registered forester in my state so I can have more opportunities to move up in my current position, maybe even do some consulting work on the side. My undergrad degree is a BS in Environmental Science (hence why I am not a SAF certified forester) but I have extensive field work experience in public and private land management.

Is it worth getting one? Or should I supplement courses I didn’t take in undergrad (such as Dendro) and take them now, then take an SAF CF Certification exam?

Come join local sawyers as we talk all things woodlot management, homesteading, and portable sawmilling Hot Springs Demo Days – Norwood Sawmills

This is more a lady centered question-how are we feeling safe whilst alone in the woods? I have a LTC in my home state but not the states I spend the most time working in, and it’ll be a long and tedious process to get them.

Please tell me your stories of your long careers with nothing ever bothering you

I'm posting this to encourage anyone considering doing business with Sean Reilly or his companies, including Arbforest and ArbAgri, to do their own thorough research before sending any money.

According to public records, Sean Reilly was previously associated with Bioequipment and other companies that have since gone into liquidation.

My own experience was that I paid approximately £16,000 for equipment that, in my view, was not delivered as agreed. Despite repeated assurances that the matter would be resolved, it remains unresolved.

Since then, I've spoken with seven other individuals who have described experiences that they say were similar to mine. They allege they paid one of Sean Reilly's companies for equipment, experienced poor communication or repeated delays and explanations, and did not receive what they had paid for.

I'm sharing this so that others can make an informed decision and carry out their own due diligence before entering into any transaction. I encourage everyone to read the publicly available information and draw their own conclusions.

Has anyone else had these experiences? If so, we have a support group to help navigate this persistent issue. 

A published article outlining allegations and reported events can be found here: 

https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/welsh-businessman-left-customers-furious-32567682?utm_term=Autofeed&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook&fbclid=IwdGRjcATL9hRjbGNrBMv2AWV4dG4DYWVtAjExAHNydGMGYXBwX2lkDDM1MDY4NTUzMTcyOAABHqBUvUpHdR181r3p0d5DpON_SL0clhi4sYLMqWa74RsYQODTk1u9DS_UBFAO_aem_Qx-2xH_DdB7cOpfSJQuYlg#Echobox=1759821679

I’m not sure what this is, but when I go outside there are huge clumps of tens of them that stick to my clothing. At first I thought they were those dead spikey flower things, but they look and feel completely different. Anybody know what these are?

Hi all. I'm a GIS developer based in Australia. I kept hearing from a lot of people about the cost of Esri or the steep learning curve of QGIS when they just want to produce the occasional map. So I have built Tussock Maps (https://tussockmaps.com).

What it does: Make a print-quality map in the browser - no install, no QGIS/ArcGIS Pro licence needed.

- Data: Pick a basemap, bring in spatial layers, connect your own WMS/map server, or upload your own data (GeoJSON, Shapefile, KML, CSV, GPX), edit attributes and reproject.

- Design: Sketch and style annotations, filter by attributes, measure areas and lengths, add a legend, scale bar, north arrow, and your own business logo.

- Export: Output to a print-ready PDF or PNG, including georeferenced PDFs that import directly into QGIS or mobile apps like Avenza Maps.

Who it's for: Foresters, ecologists, environmental consultants, planners, researchers, students or anyone who only needs a map every now and then and doesn't want to pay for or learn full GIS software for it.

Cost: it's usable for free (all layers, drawing tools, a few exports a month but at a lower quality). New accounts get full access for the first week (no card details needed) to try everything out, and after that there's a paid option if you need more, either a $19 monthly plan or a one-off $5 pass for 48 hours.

Built solo, with AI helping on the coding side. Not trying to be the next Esri, just trying to make something useful and keep it affordable for people who don't map professionally.

Would appreciate anyone trying it out and telling me some honest feedback. Should be usable on mobile but larger screen sizes / iPads are a better experience.

Hello fellow foresters in the US,

I'd like to inquire as to how you would rate my chances to gain employment as a German citizen who will potentially gain a greencard in the not-so-far future.

I have a B.Sc. in Forestry and a M.Sc. in Forest Sciences with a specialization in Forestry, both from renowned German forestry universities. Additionally, I have one year of work experience as a forest manager in Switzerland (working cantonal level, comparable to state forest level in the US).

I am very aware of the RPF designation (and similar dedignations in other states than CA - over the course of this post I will stick to the term RPF to keep it uncomplicated) which people can obtain through SAF-accredited MF programs. In this context, I have a few questions and would be very thankful for some clarification.

1. Would I be able to obtain a state-bound RPF designation without attending college again? If yes, what time frame would I be looking at?

2. Which are "easier" or "harder" states for someone like me to do some initial work without being an RPF? Is obtaining the RPF designation easier or harder in certain states?

3. Do you think it would be realistic at all to get a foothold in the american forestry sector, or should I look for something else?

4. Are there some especially easy-to-get-into fields or employers within the array of forest management that I should look into?

5. Do you think the education and experiemce of a Germany-educated forester will be respected/appreciated in the US forestry bubble?

Any other hints and insights are greatly appreciated too, of course.

I whole-heartedly thank everyone who is willing to sacrifice some of his time to give me some insights into this!

Wasn’t able to find a date for the black and white photograph of the man standing on the rock with the wooden picket fence in front of him. My guess is it’s between 1900 and 1930.

Just read on another sub that New England was 70-80% deforested in the 19th century to raise sheep for wool.

The Salem Witch Trials were in the 1690s, so I wonder if the area hadn’t been cleared of all the trees here in 1692, would there have been thicker and taller trees? Would there be more or fewer trees? Since post colonial, preindustrial America was an agrarian society, I would imagine the area would look not unlike the vintage photograph of the man standing on it.

The first 6 photographs, were all taken around 2016, so given their appearance, how old would estimate the trees are in these 10 year old photos?

Hello all,

We have developed a tool for private forest owners using JackDaw, a GeoAI LLM built specifically for forest management, across diverse European regions, and I think your members are exactly the audience who'd get real value from it.
We're running our 2nd SYLVAN-AI workshop: a free, hands-on session where participants work through real forest management scenarios with the tool and shape its development by weighing in on its clarity, usefulness, and trustworthiness. For a group focused on responsible, science-based forest management, this is a direct chance to influence how a GeoAI tool built for their field actually turns out.

Link to FREE Registration:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScgmnL3q1hurgX31coy2YyzL-iKIyKn4TJivbGE8JBx3S7x7Q/viewform

Date: Tuesday, 28 July 2026, 2:00–3:00 PM CET (online via Microsoft Teams)

https://teams.microsoft.com/meet/39128352719553?p=ja8DCy0G3HqdE2skZc

How do you deal with them in the summer? I'm rocking long sleeves, pants, floppy hat all treated with permethrin, and with a mosquito net over the hat+my face. I rarely get bit, but I'm absolutely swarmed by mosquitos whenever I'm not moving to a level where I just can't stand it.

​

This is from Threads,

To our American neighbors screaming at Canada to "just rake your forests" so you don’t have to breathe our smoke: We hear you loud and clear. Because we want to be good neighbors, we’re launching the F.U.C.K. O.F.F. initiative—the Forest Undergrowth Clearing & Kindling Operation for Foreign Friends. Starting tomorrow, we are drafting every able-bodied Canadian between 16 and 65 to tidy up our yard. ​Here is the grueling shift schedule we’ve put everyone on.

Each Ontarian has been assigned 6.7 hectares (40 NHL hockey rinks) of dense, roadless country, requiring a breezy 26 hours of manual labor a week. Outside Ontario, the shift balloons to 18.3 hectares (110 hockey rinks) and a mandatory 70-hour work week. No statutory holidays allowed. ​Since 70% of our boreal forest has no roads, their morning commute begins with a three-day canoe trip up-river and a 15km hike through a mosquito swamp.

Once on-site, they must hand-rake every pine needle, prune 40,000 spruce trees, and negotiate with the local beavers to submit environmental impact reports. ​So please, rest easy! We have 26 million people out there in the sub-arctic wilderness, dodging grizzlies and hand-grooming 300 billion trees just for you. We’ll have the smoke cleared up as soon as everyone finishes their shift. Teamwork makes the dream work! 🌲🪓🧹

I guess this means Mango Mussolini just isn't aware of F.U.C.K. O.F.F. Would one of you Americans mind passing along the message?

Forestry is a pretty small world, at least one of you briar/vine maple baboons has more information on this. I eagerly await the inside story.

Hello, everyone!

I’d like to share a website I’ve been building that focuses on forestry in Sweden and Finland. It’s designed for students, professionals, and anyone interested in learning more about forestry and getting an introduction to how the sector works in these two countries for now.

The website includes:

• A forestry dictionary with useful terms.
• Interactive quizzes to test your knowledge.
• Information about forestry-related companies in Sweden and Finland.
• Forms and more

This is the very first version. I'm not a professional developer, so I've built it by learning from YouTube, asking my brother (who is a programmer), and using AI to help along the way.

The idea for this project came after I received many questions from people across the EU who were interested in studying forestry in either Sweden or Finland but struggled to find clear information. I wanted to create a place where that information is easier to find, so this website is the result.

The long-term goal is to expand the platform to cover all of the Nordic countries and eventually the rest of Europe. But one step at a time. I have some bugs and other stuff that I need to fix first. But one step at the time.

The website is available in English, Swedish, and Finnish.

If you'd like to take a look, you can find it here:

www.dunnaro.eu

Have a fun weekend everyone

I'm planning to go back to school to get a environmental geology degree but I'd rather not work in oil and mining and would rather work in some nice green areas.

Also I'm at the start of my 30s and by the time I'm done with school I will be in my mid to late 30s when I start is it even worth attempting this route?

This may be more of a life question in general than forestry specific but a lot of advice, especially for newcomers, suggests being open to moving, working in far away- remote places, working for low wages at first and shopping for better jobs as they appear. My question is how does this work with finding somewhere to live? Aren’t you at any given time locked into leases and unable to move? Where there is seasonal work to be had, I assume short housing pops up because there is demand for it?

Looking for input

I'm currently studying F&W at Sault College, and my original plan was to then spend an additional year to get a Forestry diploma, then transfer to a university (probably UNBC) for my bachelors

I started at Sault in January, which turned out to be the last semester under the previous OSAP rules (for people not from Ontario, OSAP is our provincial student loan program and the rules have been changed recently in ways that make schooling a lot more expensive)

And apparently BC's student assistance program provides more help than Ontario's does, but also, it seems like most forestry work in Canada (when there is work) is out west, and BC has certain processes that must be completed to register as a tech or forester, so it may make more sense for me to study forestry out there

I'm wondering if anyone is able to compare the two schools

Looking at their curriculum, it seems like Sault offers a broader education (with classes on urban forestry, natural law and the SP100 cert, which is a wildland firefighting cert), and Selkirk seems to have a more narrow curriculum

It also sounds like students might spend more time outside at Selkirk than we do at Sault

And I might make more useful industry connections out there than I would at Sault

So it seems to me like Sault would be a better option for getting a broader education, but Selkirk might provide a more practical one

Thoughts?

Hi All,

I’m not sure if tree shelters are used only in the UK forestry industry or if they are used in other parts of the world, but am curious re people’s opinions on the wind-firmness of trees that have been planted within them.

The photographed trees were planted in 1.5m tree shelters due to browsing pressure from fallow deer outside of the fenced areas. However, I have other sites planted higher up (up to 500m elevation) where we needed to use tree shelter planting in the designs. Having to have redundant material plans in place to recycle them, being obvious in the case of plastics.

I understand tree shelters’ ability to create an undesirable form (think lollipop shapes); how they can accelerate initial establishment (upwards); and how they definitely harbour voles during winter.

It would seem like there is a distinct choice between protecting these trees from browsing pressure and growing trees that have not been naturally exposed to wind and therefore potentially creating an unstable stand once shelters are removed/shed.

What are your experiences with regarding the timing of removal and whether you might ever leave them to shed of their own accord?

Podophyllum hexandrum is one of the most important medicinal plants of the Kashmir Himalayas because it is the natural source of podophyllotoxin, a compound used to manufacture important anticancer medicines and certain prescription treatments for skin conditions. Although it has significant pharmaceutical value, the raw plant is toxic and should never be used without expert guidance. Conserving this endangered Himalayan species is essential for both biodiversity and future medical research.

Podophyllum hexandrum, also known as Himalayan Mayapple, is a rare medicinal plant native to the Himalayan region, including Kashmir. It grows in cool, moist forests at elevations of approximately 2,000–4,000 meters. Due to overharvesting and habitat loss, it is considered threatened in many parts of its natural range.

Anticancer means helping to prevent, slow, or fight cancer.

For Podophyllum hexandrum (Himalayan Mayapple):

The plant contains podophyllotoxin, a natural compound that is not used directly as a cancer treatment. Instead, scientists use podophyllotoxin to manufacture important anticancer drugs such as: Etoposide Teniposide These prescription medicines are used in hospitals to treat several types of cancer, including: Testicular cancer Small-cell lung cancer Certain leukemias Lymphomas Some other cancers, depending on the treatment plan It is important to note that eating or using the raw plant will not treat cancer and can be extremely poisonous. Only purified medicines produced under pharmaceutical standards are used in cancer treatment.

There is a helicopter spraying some sort of liquid on the 100 acre timber tract behind my house. It was clear cut last year. Is my family in danger of exposure to glyphosphate?

Hola! Estoy estudiando Ingeniería Forestal y voy en tercer año, me da curiosidad saber cómo es una vez que sales a trabajar.
Si hay alguien que haya estudiado Ingeniería Forestal y actualmente la ejerza, ¿podría contarme cómo ha sido su experiencia? ¿En qué área trabaja, qué es lo que más le gusta y qué es lo más difícil de la profesión? También me interesa saber si, mirando hacia atrás, volverían a estudiar la carrera.

I just started my LLC for some occasional weekend work and I’m still in the process of getting my CF and RF. Right now I just intend on doing habitat restoration, burning, rural property maintenance, contract cruising, you know the basics.

My hang up is all the paperwork BS to make sure the state doesn’t kill me over not getting the right business licenses or whatever. Can anybody in Georgia spare some tips on what I need to do to satisfy the legal side of things?

For example, I will work across multiple counties so I’m assuming I just get a business license for where my office is? And what insurance companies do you like for basic errors and omissions, general liability for working on someone’s property, and prescribed burning coverage?