Written by Acorn Sales Company, manufacturing stamps and seals since 1964 · Reviewed by Holly R, VP of Sales and Marketing at Acorn Sales, against North Carolina State Board of Registration for Foresters on 22 September 2026 · Updated 22 September 2026
North Carolina has no forester seal rule in force. The only one it ever had, 21 NCAC 20 .0110 (Registration Seal), carries this History Note on the Board’s own Laws Rules Ethics page: “Authority G.S. 89B-6; Eff. February 1, 1976; Amended Eff. August 1, 2010; May 1, 1989; February 1, 1985; Pursuant to G.S. 150B-21.3A, rules Expired January 1, 2015.” The rule expired. Nothing replaced it. So there is currently no prescribed design, no prescribed diameter and no prescribed wording for a North Carolina registered forester’s seal.
Two things that follow, and one that does not. A seal is not required, and no rule tells you what one must look like if you choose to have one. What did not happen is any change to the credential: registration as a registered forester under N.C. Gen. Stat. ch. 89B continues exactly as before, the Board continues to issue and renew it, and the rest of 21 NCAC 20 remains in place. Only the seal rule lapsed. If you came here to find the North Carolina seal specification, the honest answer is that there is not one to find, and the useful current fact is the R.F. designation format in 21 NCAC 20 .0118, which is set out below.
North Carolina forester seal requirements at a glance
| Requirement | North Carolina rule | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Seal required | No. The only seal rule, 21 NCAC 20 .0110, expired 1 January 2015 under G.S. 150B-21.3A. Even while it was in force it was permissive as to the device: a registrant “becomes eligible to purchase” a seal and it “can be affixed” to documents. No current rule requires or describes a forester seal. | 21 NCAC 20 .0110 (Registration Seal), expired 1 January 2015; N.C. State Board of Registration for Foresters, Laws Rules Ethics |
| Required elements | None are prescribed today. The expired rule said “This seal will bear the registrant’s name and number as shown on the registration certificate,” and that was its complete element list: no state name, no credential legend. That text is no longer in force and we report it as history, not as a current specification. | 21 NCAC 20 .0110 (Registration Seal), expired 1 January 2015 |
| Size and shape | None is published today. The expired rule read “The outside diameter of the seal shall be 1-9/16 inches,” which implied round. That dimension lapsed with the rule. We did not infer a size from any other state or from any product. | 21 NCAC 20 .0110 (Registration Seal), expired 1 January 2015 |
| Device allowed | Not addressed today. The expired rule named “an impression type seal or rubber stamp of a design approved by the Board” and allowed “a suitable replica or rubber stamp” for multiple copies. With the rule gone, no device is prescribed and none is excluded. | 21 NCAC 20 .0110 (Registration Seal), expired 1 January 2015 |
| Signature and date | No date requirement anywhere, then or now. What is current is a designation practice: registrants are “encouraged to insert the abbreviation R.F. (meaning registered forester) after their signatures.” Two formats are authorized, “For signatures only: (Name) R.F. / official title” and “For certifications only: (Name) R.F. / title or designation / N.C. Registration No.” Note the verb is encouraged, not required. | 21 NCAC 20 .0118(a), (b) |
| What must be sealed | Nothing. No current rule requires a forester to seal any document. The expired rule was itself permissive, saying a seal “can be affixed on all plans, maps, and reports prepared by the registrant.” | 21 NCAC 20 .0110 (Registration Seal), expired 1 January 2015 |
| Electronic seal | Not addressed. Neither the expired rule nor any current rule in 21 NCAC 20 mentions electronic or digital seals, digital signatures or third party certificates. | 21 NCAC 20 .0101 to .0126 |
| Renewal and lapse | “Registrations shall expire on the last day of June following issuance or renewal and shall become invalid after that date unless renewed.” A revoked, expired or invalid registration “shall not be displayed in any public office or place of business,” and the Board may require its custodian to surrender it. That surrender duty attaches to the registration certificate, not to a seal. No rule requires surrender of a seal. | N.C. Gen. Stat. Sec. 89B-11; 21 NCAC 20 .0111(a), (b), (c) |
| Firm requirements | No firm may hold the credential: “No firm, company, partnership, corporation or public agency shall be registered as a registered forester.” Consulting foresters are separately certified under 21 NCAC 20 .0120. There is no firm seal. | N.C. Gen. Stat. Sec. 89B-9(b); 21 NCAC 20 .0120 |
| Regulator | North Carolina State Board of Registration for Foresters, operating under N.C. Gen. Stat. ch. 89B, Sec. 89B-1 through 89B-15, with rules at 21 NCAC 20 .0101 through .0126. | N.C. Gen. Stat. ch. 89B; 21 NCAC 20 |
What happened to the North Carolina forester seal rule
It expired. The Board’s own Laws Rules Ethics page publishes the rules of 21 NCAC Chapter 20 with their History Notes, and the note under .0110 ends “Pursuant to G.S. 150B-21.3A, rules Expired January 1, 2015.” G.S. 150B-21.3A is North Carolina’s periodic review statute, which requires agencies to review existing rules on a cycle and provides that rules not readopted in the process expire. The seal rule was one that went.
We looked for a replacement and found none. There is no readopted seal rule in the current chapter, and a comment page we followed from an older Board address returned a 404. So the position today is not that the seal rule changed or was narrowed. It is that there is no seal rule at all, and therefore no design, diameter, wording or device prescribed for a North Carolina registered forester.
This did not repeal the credential
It is worth separating two things that are easy to run together. A rule expiring is not the same as a credential being abolished. Registration as a registered forester in North Carolina is created by statute, N.C. Gen. Stat. ch. 89B, and the statute is untouched. The Board still exists, still registers foresters, still numbers registrations and still renews them each June.
The rest of the chapter is also intact. 21 NCAC 20 .0111 still governs the registration certificate. .0115 is still the Code of Ethics and .0116 still covers revocation or suspension. .0118 still sets out the R.F. designation formats, and .0120 still covers Certification of Consulting Foresters. One rule out of the chapter lapsed, and it happened to be the seal rule. If you hold the credential, you still hold it, and the use of the title is still restricted to people who do.
What .0110 used to say, and why we are printing it as history
For completeness, here is what the rule provided before it expired, as archived by the Office of Administrative Hearings: “Upon issuance of a certificate to an applicant as a registered forester, the applicant becomes eligible to purchase an impression type seal or rubber stamp of a design approved by the Board. This seal will bear the registrant’s name and number as shown on the registration certificate. This seal can be affixed on all plans, maps, and reports prepared by the registrant. Where a registrant is required to reproduce original plans, maps, or reports in multiple copies, a suitable replica or rubber stamp may be employed to facilitate reproduction. The Board considers it flagrant misconduct for a registered forester to use a seal to stamp work done by another individual unless it is the work of an employee or agent working under the supervision of the registrant. The outside diameter of the seal shall be 1-9/16 inches. In ordering a seal, the registrant must provide the supplier with the proper registration number.”
We print it because you will find it quoted on supplier pages as though it were current, and because knowing the old text is the fastest way to recognize a page that has not noticed the expiration. Treat it as history. The 1-9/16 inch diameter in that paragraph is not a current North Carolina requirement, and a manufacturer who tells you it is has not read the History Note.
A discrepancy we flag rather than resolve
Two official sources do not read the same way, and we would rather say so. The Board’s own Laws Rules Ethics page shows .0110 with the longer History Note including “Amended Eff. August 1, 2010” and the expiration on 1 January 2015. The Office of Administrative Hearings rule archive still displays the pre-expiration text of .0110 with a shorter History Note reading only “Eff. February 1, 1976; Amended Eff. May 1, 1989; February 1, 1985,” and shows no expiration at all.
We could not reconcile the two from the primary files: the consolidated Chapter 20 PDF on the OAH server and the chapter file on the state rules server both refused automated retrieval. We treat the Board’s own page as controlling, because it is the agency whose rule it is and it is the source publishing the periodic review outcome. An archive copy that has not been restamped is a common artifact of rule expiration and does not put the rule back in force. If this matters to a filing you are making, confirm with the Board.
North Carolina is a title act, and that is the live restriction
What the statute controls is the word, not the work. N.C. Gen. Stat. Sec. 89B-1 provides that “No person shall use the designation ‘forester’, ‘registered forester’, or any other descriptive terms that include the words ‘forester’ or ‘registered forester’” without first having been registered. Sec. 89B-2 defines the practice of forestry as “rendering professional forestry services, including but not limited to, consultation, investigation, evaluation, planning, or other forestry activities requiring knowledge, training, and experience in forestry principles and techniques.”
Because the prohibition runs to the designation rather than to the practice, North Carolina is a title act. That shapes what a professional mark is for here. The thing the state protects is the claim on the document, which is precisely what a name, credential and number block puts in front of a reader.
The R.F. designation, which is the useful current rule
With the seal rule gone, the marking provision still standing is 21 NCAC 20 .0118. Subsection (a) says registrants are “encouraged to insert the abbreviation R.F. (meaning registered forester) after their signatures.” Subsection (b) gives two authorized formats: “(1) For signatures only: (Name) R.F. / official title” and “(2) For certifications only: (Name) R.F. / title or designation / N.C. Registration No.”
Read the verb carefully, because it is the point of this page. Encouraged is not required. Nothing in 21 NCAC 20 obliges you to use the R.F. abbreviation or either format. What .0118 does give you is something better than a blank page: it is the Board’s own statement of how a registered forester’s name, credential and number should be arranged. For certifications the format includes the North Carolina registration number, and that three line block is the most defensible content for a professional stamp in a state that no longer prescribes a seal.
The Board’s own seal is a different instrument
N.C. Gen. Stat. Sec. 89B-6 provides that “The Board shall adopt an official seal.” That is the Board’s corporate seal, used by the Board on its own instruments, and it is not a registrant’s seal. It was never the source of the design in .0110, and it certainly is not a source for artwork now that .0110 has expired. If you find a reference to a North Carolina forester seal that traces back to Sec. 89B-6, it is pointing at the wrong seal.
The same caution runs across professions. North Carolina land surveyors, engineers, architects and real estate appraisers all have their own seal rules under their own boards, several of them mandatory and specified to the tenth of an inch. None of those reaches a forester, and none of them should be used to size or letter a forester’s stamp.
Registration, renewal and the surrender rule that is not about seals
N.C. Gen. Stat. Sec. 89B-11 provides that “Registrations shall expire on the last day of June following issuance or renewal and shall become invalid after that date unless renewed.” That is a common June expiration rather than an anniversary date. 21 NCAC 20 .0111 covers the certificate: “(a) Registrations issued to successful applicants will be given consecutive individual numbers. Once issued to a registrant, a number will not be assigned again. (b) A revoked, expired or invalid registration shall not be displayed in any public office or place of business by any registrant in connection with the practice of forestry. (c) Any violation of this Rule may be cause for the Board to require the custodian of said registration to surrender it to the Board.”
Note what subsection (c) is about. The thing that may have to be surrendered is the registration certificate, the paper document, not a stamp or a die. No rule in 21 NCAC 20 requires a forester to surrender or destroy a marking device, and since no rule prescribes one, there is nothing for such a duty to attach to. One number fact worth keeping: under (a) a registration number is never reissued, so your number stays yours and a die carrying it does not become someone else’s.
So should a North Carolina forester have a stamp at all?
That is now a business question rather than a compliance one, and it deserves a plain answer rather than a pitch. Nothing requires one. A registered forester who never buys a stamp is fully compliant with every rule in 21 NCAC 20 as the chapter currently stands.
The case for one is the ordinary professional case. A management plan, a cruise summary, a boundary sketch, a timber sale recommendation or a letter of opinion generally leaves your office as a paper deliverable or a PDF that will be printed. A mark that prints your name, the R.F. designation and your North Carolina registration number in one press identifies the author at a glance, separates your work from an assistant’s, and puts a state controlled designation in front of a landowner, a lender or a county office. In a title act state, that designation is the thing with legal weight, and .0118 tells you the Board’s preferred way to arrange it.
What to put on a North Carolina forester stamp now
Since no design is prescribed, the sensible source is .0118 rather than invention. For a general marking, the signature format is (Name) R.F. and your official title. For anything that reads as a certification, the fuller format is (Name) R.F., your title or designation, and your N.C. Registration Number. A rectangular stamp handles those lines comfortably and reads well at small size.
Two things to avoid. Do not have a device lettered to look like a state prescribed seal, with a circular border and a state legend, because North Carolina does not prescribe one and a mark that implies otherwise is misleading about its own authority. And do not order a 1-9/16 inch round die on the strength of the expired rule text; that dimension is not in force, and matching it does not make a device compliant with anything. Keep the mark plainly informational and let the R.F. designation and the registration number do the work.
Ordering, and looking after it
Send the name you want engraved, the R.F. designation, your official title if you want it on the device, and your North Carolina registration number. Say whether you want the signature format or the certification format, or both on separate devices, and ask for a proof at actual size so you can read the number before the die is cut. We can set either .0118 format; contact us with your details, and the forester stamps and seals overview shows which states do prescribe a design.
Care is the usual. Re ink a self inking stamp when the impression starts to gray rather than when it fails, keep a pre inked stamp capped, and keep any ink device out of heat and direct sun. The check at each June renewal is whether the name still reads correctly, whether the registration number still matches, and whether the registration is current, since .0111(b) forbids displaying a revoked, expired or invalid registration in connection with the practice of forestry. This page is a research summary and not legal advice.
- Forester Stamps and Seals: State Rules, Sizes and Prices
- South Carolina Forester Seal: Optional, Two Fixed Sizes
- New Hampshire Forester Seal: Exact 1-9/16 Inch Spec
Frequently asked questions
Does North Carolina require a registered forester to have a seal?
No. The only forester seal rule, 21 NCAC 20 .0110, expired on 1 January 2015 under G.S. 150B-21.3A, and nothing replaced it. No current rule requires a seal, prescribes a design or sets a size.
Was the registered forester credential repealed too?
No. Only the seal rule lapsed. Registration under N.C. Gen. Stat. ch. 89B continues, the Board still registers and renews foresters, and the rest of 21 NCAC 20, including the Code of Ethics and the R.F. designation rule, remains in place.
I have seen a 1-9/16 inch North Carolina forester seal advertised. Is that right?
That dimension comes from the expired text of .0110, which read “The outside diameter of the seal shall be 1-9/16 inches.” It lapsed with the rule on 1 January 2015. Matching it does not make a device compliant, because there is nothing left to comply with.
Why do some sites still show the old rule as current?
Partly because the Office of Administrative Hearings archive copy still displays the pre-expiration text with a shorter History Note and no expiration shown, while the Board’s own Laws Rules Ethics page carries the expiration. We treat the Board’s page as controlling and flag the difference rather than resolving it.
What should go on a North Carolina forester stamp instead?
The formats in 21 NCAC 20 .0118, which are still in force. For signatures, (Name) R.F. and your official title. For certifications, (Name) R.F., your title or designation, and your N.C. Registration Number. Registrants are encouraged, not required, to use the R.F. abbreviation.
Is the R.F. designation mandatory?
No. .0118(a) says registrants are “encouraged to insert the abbreviation R.F. (meaning registered forester) after their signatures.” Encouraged is the verb the rule uses, and we do not report it as a requirement.
Do I have to give my registration number to a supplier?
Not any more. The expired rule said “In ordering a seal, the registrant must provide the supplier with the proper registration number,” but that duty lapsed with the rest of .0110. You will still want the number engraved if you are using the certification format.
Is the Board’s official seal the same thing?
No. N.C. Gen. Stat. Sec. 89B-6 requires the Board to adopt an official seal. That is the Board’s own corporate instrument, separate from any device a registrant might buy, and it is not a source for artwork.
