Actions Taken by the Georgia State Board of Registration for Foresters at its May 13 Meeting

Macon, Ga.—The Georgia State Board of Registration for Foresters met on Wednesday, May 13, 2009.

The Board voted to approve one application for licensure, two applications for licensure by reciprocity, and one application for reinstatement of licensure. The Board voted to ratify the issuance of five Registered Forester licenses by examination.

The Board voted to post the following revised rules: 

• Rule 220-2-.08 Examination for Registration. Amended.  220-2-.08(2) was revised to read:  Applications for the examination must be received in the Board office or bear a United States Postal Service postmark date of at least 40 days prior to the date of the examination.

• Rule 220-4-.04 Definitions. Amended.  220-4-.04(1) was revised to read:  (1) Credit Hours. Credit accrues at a rate of one hour for each hour of actual contact. This shall be known as a contact hour or clock hour. Tour or field session activities will receive credit based on actual instruction time. For providers who measure continuing education activities in “Continuing Education Units” (CEU), one CEU is defined as 10 contact hours of continuing education. Credit will not be allowed for any program which in its entirety, including question and answer periods, lasts less than thirty minutes. However, credit may be rounded down to the nearest whole or half hour, so long as it is at least one-half hour. Credit will not be given for time spent in introductory remarks, coffee and luncheon breaks, meals, travel time for tour or field session activities or business meetings where no organized course work is presented.

220-4-.04(2) was revised to read: (2) The Board recognizes two types of continuing education activities:
(a) Live Programs:  Live programs may include educational workshops, seminars, conferences, lectures, live videoconferences or telephone broadcasts , field trips, or similar functions that involves real-time interactions with instructors and other participants in the program; and
(b) Self-Study Programs:  Self-study programs may include reading professional periodicals or trade journals, correspondence courses and other distance learning through various media.  Credit for text-based self study is awarded at the rate of one contact hour for 10,800 words of text, for peer reviewed publications multiply number of hours by 1.5.  Credit for audiovisual self-study is awarded at the rate of one hour for each hour of material, the same as for live programs.
220-4-.04(3) was revised to read:  (2) (3) Categories. The Board recognizes continuing forestry education categories in accordance with those of the Society of American Foresters. There are six categories of continuing forestry education which cover the various activities for which credit may be granted.
(a) Category 1.  Live or self-study programs in forestry or forestry related subject matter including but not limited to silviculture, mensuration, forest pest management, wildlife habitat management, urban forestry, forest policy, sustainable forest management and accreditation standards, forest investment analysis, or professional ethics.  Organized course work or activities in forestry or forestry-related subject matter such as silviculture, mensuration, forest pest management, habitat management, urban forestry, forest policy, or professional ethics. Included are seminars, short courses, and workshops conducted or sponsored by public or private organizations, as well as technical sessions of professional forestry society meetings or conferences. A Category 1 activity     Category 1 programs must satisfy all of the following conditions: 1. It constitutes an organized program of learning (including a meeting, workshop or symposium) which contributes directly to the professional competency of foresters.
2. It deals primarily with matter directly related to the practice of forestry or to the professional responsibility or ethical obligations of foresters.
3. It is conducted by foresters or individuals who have special education, training and experience by reason of which they can be considered experts in the subject matter of the program.
4. It is conducted in a setting physically suitable to the educational objectives.
5. The subject matter is applicable to foresters in general. (Activities may be approved where attendance is limited to the members of a particular company, firm, or governmental agency but only if the subject matter is broad enough to be of interest to foresters in general.)
(b) Category 2.  Live or self-study programs Other organized course work or activities not specifically forestry or forestry- related but which are professionally enriching or directly benefiting the individual in his or her present position. Examples include general sessions of forestry or other professional meetings or course work in areas such as real estate, public speaking, business management, or computer science.
(c) Category 3.  Professional development and volunteer activities.  Category 3 activities may include professional or civic activities undertaken outside of normal job responsibilities, and are related to forestry or land use and promote the profession of forestry.  Examples include participation on state or local planning boards, participation on committees that are related to forestry, or publication of original forest related article.  The development, preparation, and presentation of forestry or forestry-related course work, in an instructional capacity such as described in Category 1, which require effort beyond the general scope of the individual’s normal duties or job description. Credit accrues at the rate of two contact hours for each hour of presentation.
(d) Category 4. The preparation, writing, and publication of forestry or forestry-related subject matter, which requires effort beyond the general scope of the individual’s normal duties or job description. Credit accrues at the rate of 15 hours for each publication requiring technical review or 5 hours for an article or a series of articles of a substantial nature in magazines, newspapers, or similar publications.
(e) Category 5.  Self-improvement in forestry or forestry related subjects.  Examples are attendance at meetings of state boards of forestry, forestry licensing committees, or tree improvement associations.  This may not include the business or social portions of professional society meetings that do not qualify for Categories 1 or 2.  Also included is self-improvement through publications or audio-visual presentations on technical forestry subjects.  Independent study programs that are forestry related but do not qualify for Category 1 are included.  Credit accrues at the rate of one hour for each hour of activity.
(f) Category 6.  Holding elected or appointed office or active committee assignment in forestry or allied professional organizations and on national, state or local boards as a representative of the forestry profession.  Credit accrues at the rate of 3 hours per biennium for holding office or chairing an assignment or two hours per biennium for active committee membership.

• Rule 220-4-.05 Requirements. Amended.  220-4-.05 was revised to read:  Minimum continuing education requirements for biennial license renewal are a total of 12 contact credit hours of continuing forestry education.

(a)  A minimum of 6 contact hours must be in Categories or 2. A maximum of 3 credit hours may be obtained in Categories 2 and 3. However, the entire requirement may be met with hours in Categories 1, only.  A minimum of 1 contact hour of this requirement shall be in course work specifically designated as professional ethics.
(b)  A maximum of 6 contact hours may be claimed in each of Categories 2, 3, and 4.  
(c)  A maximum of 3 contact hours may be claimed in each of Categories 5 and 6.
(d)  A maximum of 3 credit hours can be obtained through approved Self-Study Programs, a minimum of 9 credit hours must be obtained through participation in Live- Study Programs.  Foresters who have held their licenses for less than two years but more than one year, as described in 220-4-.01(2), must obtain 6 continuing education hours, all of these credit hours must be obtained through participation in Live – Study Programs.  meet one half of the requirements in (a) through (c) above; with the exception of the ethics training which is waived entirely. 

The Georgia State Board of Registration for Foresters will hold its next meeting on Wednesday, August 12, 2009 at 9:30 a.m. at the Professional Licensing Board in Macon.