CF Professional Standards & Ethics 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A landowner instructs a Certified Forester to prescribe a harvest that the forester believes will cause significant, irreversible soil erosion. The forester should:
- Follow the landowner's instructions without comment
- Advise the landowner of the risks in writing and refuse to proceed if the risk is unacceptable (Correct answer)
- Implement the harvest but reduce the area slightly
- Report the landowner to state forestry authorities immediately
Correct answer: Advise the landowner of the risks in writing and refuse to proceed if the risk is unacceptable
Foresters must inform clients of significant risks and are not obligated to carry out prescriptions that violate professional standards or cause unacceptable harm.
Question 2: Which action would most likely constitute grounds for revocation of SAF membership?
- Failing to complete continuing education in a single year
- Falsifying a professional document submitted to a regulatory agency (Correct answer)
- Disagreeing publicly with an SAF policy position
- Accepting a project outside one's primary state of licensure
Correct answer: Falsifying a professional document submitted to a regulatory agency
Falsifying professional documents constitutes fraud, a serious ethical violation that can result in loss of SAF membership and professional licensure.
Question 3: A forester is hired as an expert witness in a timber trespass case. Their primary duty is to:
- Support the position of the hiring attorney
- Provide objective, impartial, and scientifically sound testimony to the court (Correct answer)
- Minimize the damage estimate to reduce client liability
- Coordinate testimony with the opposing expert
Correct answer: Provide objective, impartial, and scientifically sound testimony to the court
An expert witness's duty is to the court and truth, not to the hiring party, even though they are retained and paid by one side.
Question 4: The concept of 'sustainable forest management' as an ethical obligation means a forester must consider:
- Maximum short-term timber yield only
- Economic, ecological, and social outcomes across multiple generations (Correct answer)
- State-mandated minimum rotation ages exclusively
- Carbon sequestration metrics as the sole performance measure
Correct answer: Economic, ecological, and social outcomes across multiple generations
Ethical sustainable forest management integrates long-term ecological integrity, economic viability, and social responsibility.
Question 5: A Certified Forester who mentors a forestry student is obligated to:
- Guarantee the student employment after graduation
- Model ethical conduct and transmit professional standards through example and instruction (Correct answer)
- Recommend the student for SAF membership regardless of qualifications
- Share proprietary client data as educational examples
Correct answer: Model ethical conduct and transmit professional standards through example and instruction
Mentors are responsible for transmitting professional values, ethical standards, and technical knowledge to the next generation of foresters.
Question 6: Which of the following fee arrangements would most likely create an ethical conflict for a forester conducting a timber inventory?
- Hourly billing regardless of volume found
- A flat project fee agreed upon in advance
- A percentage of the timber value appraised (Correct answer)
- A daily rate with expense reimbursement
Correct answer: A percentage of the timber value appraised
Contingency fees tied to appraisal value create a financial incentive to inflate estimates, compromising objectivity.
Question 7: When a Certified Forester publicly criticizes another forester's professional work, the SAF Code requires that the criticism be:
- Submitted anonymously to protect the critic
- Based on factual evidence and conducted with professional courtesy (Correct answer)
- Cleared by an SAF committee before publication
- Limited to technical matters and never personal conduct
Correct answer: Based on factual evidence and conducted with professional courtesy
Professional criticism must be factual, fair, and courteous — personal attacks or unsupported allegations violate the Code of Ethics.
CF Professional Standards & Ethics 3
A landowner instructs a Certified Forester to prescribe a harvest that the forester believes will cause significant, irreversible soil erosion.
The forester should: