The Forester is a powered building used to plant trees and bushes in designated growing zones. It is one of the core support buildings for maintaining a renewable wood supply and for establishing long-term plantations near a colony. Once set up, it automatically plants the nearest prioritized species in its work area, helping a settlement recover from early shortages and sustain later logging operations.
A Forester only works on tiles with moisture, so its effectiveness depends on irrigation, rainfall, or access to wet ground. When a growing area is marked with the “Plant trees and bushes” tool, the Forester starts planting the nearest available species, or the species prioritized in the Forester’s own settings. If a planted tree is later cut down by a Lumberjack, the Forester will replant it automatically. Bushes such as blueberries and other harvestable shrubs do not need to be replanted once established unless they die from lack of moisture. The same applies to trees planted for their resource yield rather than for regular harvesting. Dead trees can also be replaced through the building’s “Replace dead trees not marked for cutting” option.
The building’s work area is large. On completely flat ground with no obstructions, it extends 21 tiles in every direction from the block immediately outside the entrance, with the full footprint measured as a 39x41 area plus the building space itself. The shortest path from the entrance is 21 tiles, and the center of the structure occupies 4 tiles. Because of this wide coverage, a single Forester can support a substantial planting region, but it still benefits from being positioned close to water and to the logging district it serves.
Planting speed varies by species. Including a bit over one tile of walking between plantings, the planting rate is roughly:
about 3.4 per hour for the fastest small plants,
about 2.375 per hour for another quick crop,
about 1.64 per hour for medium-speed plantings,
around 1.25 per hour for several slower species,
and less than 1 per hour for the slowest trees.
In practice, one Forester can keep up with about four Lumberjacks operating at full speed. A fifth Lumberjack can begin to create missed planting opportunities, so larger logging operations generally need more than one Forester or a carefully managed plantation layout. Trees and bushes inside the planting area do not spread naturally, so the Forester is essential for maintaining controlled forests and orchards rather than relying on passive regrowth.
The Forester’s role is especially important in new colonies, where access to trees is limited and early wood production must be planned carefully. It is usually worth prioritizing the research and construction of this building early, since a steady planting cycle supports both construction material and long-term expansion. The building has been adjusted over several updates, including a lowered unlock cost and the addition of the dead-tree replacement option.
