ChrisatEastAg:
I am a PE Forest Eng & Civil Eng in Washington State. Washington & Oregon recognize forest engineers, formerly known as logging engineers. The PE exams are administered by the State Board. FE's aren't officially recognized nationally. Moreover, WA is phasing out the exam due to low interest by the industry, and the Univ of WA has dropped their FE curriculum. Oregon State University has a good FE program, and they offer a way to combine a civil eng degree with it.
To answer your question, at least regarding the US Northwest, an engineering approach to forest management includes:
Field layout of forest road systems for the primary purpose of timber harvest. You need to know the "reach" for the different logging systems (cable v.s. ground skidding).
Designing stream crossing structures such as culverts and bridges. Fish passable culverts is a hot topic.
This profession enables one to combine very diverse disciplines.
Some FE's also have the duty of managing the contract logging operation.
Solutions are generally kept simple. The FE does his/her own surveying, and then goes about a design. One can dig into many fields, as his/her interest dictates. For example, below is a list of some tasks I do:
Bridge inspections: condition rating & repair recommendations;
Roadway design, construction staking & inspection;
Bridge site surveying, bridge selection, and construction staking;
Hydrologic calculations & hydrualic calculations for bridge siting & culvert design;
Quarry developement layout for road surfacing aggregate production.
Road maintenance assessment needs/recommendations/environmental compliance.
These duties have led me to learn more mainstream engineering subjects such as foundation engineering, geotechnical engineering, structural engineering, hydraulics, stream morphology, slope stability. I don't calim to be an expert at any of this, but it keeps my career interesting.
