HB 5001 Summary

• Establishes a board of foresters within the Department of Natural Resources to regulate and register professional foresters in Michigan, with 5-7 members representing forestry organizations, academia, state agencies, industry, landowners, and municipal forestry.

• Creates a registered forester certification program requiring applicants to meet educational requirements (associate's degree plus 4 years experience, or bachelor's degree plus 2 years experience) and obtain references from 3 registered foresters, with $200 biennial registration fees.

• Mandates registered foresters maintain professional standards including forest management planning, ethical conduct, conflict of interest disclosure, and compliance with sustainable forestry practices; violations can result in caution letters, proposed orders, or suspension/revocation of registration.

• Establishes a violations committee to investigate complaints against registered foresters, with a process including 30-day initial review, 60-day response period for accused foresters, and board issuance of final orders within 90 days.

• Deposits registered forester fees into the forest development fund to support reforestation, forest protection, timber stand improvement, and sustainable forestry certification on state forest lands; repeals previous forester licensing provisions under the occupational code and state license fee act.