NH launches first-of-its-kind forestry certification to grow workforce

From a 2017 report, this map shows forestation levels in NH by county. The high rate of forestation and the need for foresters has led to the creation of a workforce initiative that begins this fall. (Courtesy of NH Division of Forests & Lands)

Some 200 years ago, raising Merino sheep for their rich wool, was extremely profitable and saw New Hampshire farmers extensively cut forests to graze the sheep and erect stone walls to enclose them.

Today, the sheep are gone, but the stone walls largely remain.

What has also happened in that time is that forests have reclaimed much of the state, creating a need for qualified people to manage the tracts, some 72 percent of which, according to the NH Timberland Owners Association, are privately-owned.

Like other industries in New Hampshire, the state and the wood-products industry has done some workforce development initiatives, but recently that effort may have culminated in the announcement of the first “industry-recognized credential.”

The credentialing is through the Granite State Division Society of American Foresters (GSD-SAF) while the University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension has developed the seven-modules that students will study. The IRC, which is free, also entails two days of field work.

The NHTOA is administering the IRC, which as of late July, already had a full cohort of 25 students for the Fall 2025 term; the organization is currently accepting applications for the spring 2026 cohort.

“Unknown to the average citizen and even many of our elected officials, New Hampshire has a vibrant forest products industry, and that is consistently one of the top three industries in the state based on economic output,” wrote Patrick D. Hackley, director/state forester with the NH Division of Forests & Lands, in an e-mail to NH Business Review.

“This $1.6 billion industry directly employs over 7,200 people and, in terms of total contribution (including multiplier effects), it supports over 12,800 jobs and generates $2.5 billion in economic output,” he said.

Andy Fast, forest industry specialist with the UNH Cooperative Extension, said in a prepared statement that the IRC is “available to high schools, adults looking for career changes and other nontraditional students.”

UNH Extension County Forester, Greg Jordan, demonstrates forest inventory techniques. (Photo courtesy of Andrew Fast)

Separately, in a telephone interview, Fast explained the forest industry is “experiencing a labor shortage,” hence the need for workforce development.

Matthias Nevins, chair of the GSD-SAF’s executive committee and a forester with Meadowsend Consulting of New London, noted, that behind only Maine, New Hampshire, at more than 80%, is the second most-forested state in the U.S.

He acknowledges that, while “there are IRCs that provide credentials to forestry professionals, this is the first in the nation that provides a foundation for non-professionals, including high schoolers, leading them into a core forestry career.”

Students will learn about silviculture, forest ecology and forest management, he said, adding that their earning the IRC certification “demonstrates basic literacy in forestry concepts and skills,” and can serve as “a standalone IRC, or students who are enrolled can use the program as a prerequisite to earn the Society of American Foresters’ (SAF) Candidate Certified Forestry Technician (CCFT) certification, a new certification that is a professional standard for forestry technicians.”

Earning the IRC and SAF’s nationally recognized CCFT, he continued, “can offer a competitive edge in the workforce. Professional certifications not only provide evidence of competency and an ongoing commitment to learning, they also require adherence to standards of professional practice.”

New Hampshire has “a long history” of supporting forests, said Nevins, Wood products help us build homes and heat them while also providing wildlife habitat, “pumping oxygen and also storing carbon.”

“We have some of the best red oak and white pine in the country,” Nevins said. “Foresters work with mostly private landowners to come up with a plan and a stewardship vision, they serve as an architect project manager.”

In New Hampshire, finding workers is a challenge, especially in the forestry industry.

“We are an aging workforce for sure, and in the multiple different corners of the industry, the average age is going up, and foresters as a group are also aging,” Nevins said. The IRC, he added, “is a pathway for younger folks with or without a college degree, and it is one of many steps to get folks excited.”

While the field is not especially lucrative, the work can be fulfilling.

“If people like working with their hands and working in the woods, on the land, there are opportunities for meaningful work,” Nevins said, noting that a forester may not get rich doing his or her job.

“The work of foresters is working class, modest. It’s good living and you can support your life on that. I get to help folks get connected to their property and to the land, and there’s appropriate compensation for the work,” he said.

Hackley, whose agency holds annual career-field days, described the IRC as the “next step” for anyone “exploring career changes, providing a pathway into rewarding forestry careers.” He acknowledged and thanked the parties collaborating on the IRC, including the GSD-SAF; NH Timberland Owners Association; the NHTOA’s Owners Education Foundation; the University of New Hampshire; and The Conservation Fund.

Jasen Stock, executive director at the NHTOA, said in a prepared statement that the IRC “aligns with the broader forest industry workforce development initiative we are employing. This program got established and has so much interest because of the good collaboration and work between the entities involved.”

Fast said the IRC has tremendous value even for those students who choose not to pursue a forestry career because they may gain an appreciation for New Hampshire forests and the environment and become “more literate about the woods.”

“This (workforce development) is really, finally starting to take off,” he said, and filling the first cohort quickly “is just a remarkable outcome.”

Teachers, students and guidance counselors can learn more or enroll in the IRC by contacting the NHTOA’s Doug Cullen 603-224-9699 or via email at dcullen@nhtoa.org