This page has information about required content for SFEC's Ecosystem Silviculture Certificate course. 

Required course content

To obtain the Ecosystem Silviculture certificate, participants must receive credit for each of the following:

Silviculture Review 

Overview: An in-person overview of the course and review of basic silviculture theory and practice in Minnesota.
How to get this credit: Course Introduction and Silviculture Overview (SFEC offering open only to course participants)

Soils & Landforms

Overview: An in-person workshop covering relationships between soils, landforms, and plant community development. Covers common tools and sources of information. Includes classroom presentations and hands-on activities in the field or lab.
How to get this credit: SFEC Soils and Landforms day-long workshop (SFEC offering)

Site Assessment

Overview: 3-hour field session reviewing basic inventory and site assessment techniques. Includes forest measurement, native plant community identification, and related topics.
How to get this credit: Field Site Assessment and Prescription Development workshop (SFEC offering, usually only for Ecosilv participants)

Prescription Development

Overview: 3-hour session focused on developing and writing silviculture prescriptions. Includes silviculture applications, writing and communications. 
How to get this credit: Field Site Assessment and Prescription Development workshop (SFEC offering, usually only for Ecosilv participants)

Operations 

Overview: Day-long classroom and field session focused on operational considerations in treatment design and implementation. Includes financial, logistical, marketing, Site-level Guidelines, and other considerations. 
How to get this credit: Getting it Done: Treatment Design & Implementation workshop (SFEC offering, usually only for Ecosilv participants). Forest Management Guidelines field session.

Field Applications to an ECS System (3 required)

Overview: Day-long field-based sessions focusing on applications of ecological silviculture to an ECS system as described in the MN DNR ECS Field Guide.
How to get this credit: Species-specific workshops and field days. Participants may substitute one indoor session such as an SFEC species symposium, MN Society of American Foresters conference (with a strong species or ECS System focus), or similar event for field sessions.   

Student Project

Overview: Written and verbal presentations of individual projects. These can be done individually (most commonly) or in pairs with instructor approval. Written versions are encouraged to be formatted and submitted as Great Lakes Silviculture Library case studies.
How to get this credit: Ecosilv-specific offering