Job description

Foresters manage public and private forested lands for economic, recreational, and conservation purposes. May inventory the type, amount, and location of standing timber, appraise the timber’s worth, negotiate the purchase, and draw up contracts for procurement. May determine how to conserve wildlife habitats, creek beds, water quality, and soil stability, and how best to comply with environmental regulations. May devise plans for planting and growing new trees, monitor trees for healthy growth, and determine optimal harvesting schedules.

• Procure timber from private landowners.
• Monitor contract compliance and results of forestry activities to assure adherence to government regulations.
• Plan and supervise forestry projects, such as determining the type, number and placement of trees to be planted, managing tree nurseries, thinning forest and monitoring growth of new seedlings.
• Negotiate terms and conditions of agreements and contracts for forest harvesting, forest management and leasing of forest lands.

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Salary

Foresters with little to no experience tend to make between $41350 and $50400 while the more experienced ones can earn over $73550 per year.

One of the easiest ways to increase your salary as a Forester is to move to a higher paying state like DC. Right now, the highest paying states for Foresters are DC, CA, MA, NJ and CT.

However, a higher pay at DC doesn’t guarantee that you will make more because the living expenses at DC might be twice as high than where you are currently at now.

Three other factors that can increase your salary as a Forester is the degree you hold, the industry you work in, and lastly the company you work for.

Requirements

We asked other Foresters what degree they had when they got the job and most of them said they had a Bachelor’s Degree followed by an Associate’s Degree.

Other than that, we also asked them what did they major in and here are the most popular majors that came up.

Pros and Cons

Here are some of the pros and cons of being a Forester.

What is the job like

85% of Foresters said they were satisfied with their job and 81% said they feel like their job is making other people’s lives better.

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Alex Wick

It’s one of the most difficult and most rewarding jobs out there. Whether it’s surveying land, planting trees, or collecting biometrics data on ecosystems, you get to work in some of the most rugged, beautiful terrain in the world. You’ll be in good shape from hiking and scrambling over and through the woods, there is an opportunity to learn and use cool tech, including GPS/GIS units and you get paid decently well, and sleep like a log at night. Plus, you’re directly helping to quantify and reduce the effects of climate change.

11/10, highly recommend for any young adult looking for work that feels (and is) good (for the planet).

Alex Wick
MSc. Forestry
Cascadia Carbon

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Is this right for me

You can read more about these career personality types here.

People who are suitable for this job tends to like work activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They like working with plants, animals, and real-world materials like wood, tools, and machinery..

They also like working with ideas, and require an extensive amount of thinking. They like searching for facts and figuring out problems mentally.

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