Professional foresters are generally divided among

• private consulting foresters who work for private landowners,
• government foresters who work for federal, state, or municipal organizations,
• industrial foresters who work primarily for private sawmills,
• academic foresters who are involved in research and teaching at the university level, and
• foresters who work for a variety of conservation organizations.
  
  Old Growth Stand

   Private consulting foresters provide management planning to incorporate a wide variety of objectives, administer timber sales, and assist private landowners with forestland taxation issues and estate planning. For timber sales, these foresters mark trees to be cut, seek bids on the estimated timber volume, and monitor logging to secure compliance with such laws as the Forest Cutting Practives Act, Slash Law, and Wetlands Protection Act.
   Government foresters work with a variety of state and municipal agencies in Massachusetts. These foresters write and implement management plans for land controlled by the agency, interact regularly with the public on natural resource management issues, and are most directly involved with the creation, modification, and promulgation of forestry regulations. These foresters work for the Department of Environmental Management (either managing DEM land or working with the public), the Division of Fisheries and Wildlife (managing DFW forest land for wildlife benefits), The Division of Water Supply Protection (managing parkland and watershed properties), the Army Corps Of Engineers and other federal agencies. There are also a number of town foresters in MA.
   Industrial foresters provide management planning to incorporate a wide variety of objectives, administer and purchase timber sales, and assist private landowners with forestland taxation issues and estate planning. For timber sales, these foresters mark trees to be cut and monitor logging to secure compliance with such laws as the Forest Cutting Practives Act, Slash Law, and Wetlands Protection Act. Some industrial foresters may be mainly procurement foresters. These foresters are also responsible for securing compliance with all state regulations during harvesting.
   Academic foresters include researchers with the USDA Forest Service, professors in university forestry programs, and Extension foresters. These foresters are primarily involved in research and education and in providing new information both to the forestry community and to the general public.
   Conservation program foresters are hired by a variety of organizations that own significant forestland, including, for example, the Trustees of Reservations. These foresters manage the organizations forestland, monitor conservation easements granted to the organization, and provide special treatments for conservation purposes, such as controlled burns to sustain fire-dependent species.