OverviewSalaryAboutEducationWhere are the jobsEmploymentGenderRace/Origin
Overview
Under supervision, perform manual labor necessary to develop, maintain, or protect areas such as forests, forested areas, woodlands, wetlands, and rangelands through such activities as raising and transporting seedlings; combating insects, pests, and diseases harmful to plant life; and building structures to control water, erosion, and leaching of soil. Includes forester aides, seedling pullers, tree planters, and gatherers of nontimber forestry products such as pine straw.
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Titles for this career often contain these words
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Responsibilities and activities
Forest and conservation workers typically do the following:
- Plant seedlings to reforest land
- Clear away brush and debris from trails, roadsides, and camping areas
- Count and measure trees during tree-measuring efforts
- Select or cut trees according to markings, sizes, types, or grades
- Spray trees with insecticides and fungicides to kill insects and fungi and to protect the trees from disease
- Identify and remove diseased or undesirable trees
- Inject vegetation with insecticides and herbicides
- Help prevent and suppress forest fires
- Check equipment to ensure that it is operating properly
Forest and conservation workers are supervised by foresters and forest and conservation technicians, who direct their work and evaluate their progress.
Forest and conservation workers perform basic tasks to maintain and improve the quality of the forest. They use digging and planting tools to plant seedlings and power saws to cut down diseased trees.
Some work on tree farms or orchards, where they plant, cultivate, and harvest many different kinds of trees. Their duties vary with the type of farm and may include planting seedlings or spraying to control weed growth and insects.
Some forest and conservation workers work in forest nurseries, where they sort through tree seedlings, discarding the ones that do not meet standards. Others use handtools or their hands to gather woodland products, such as decorative greenery, tree cones, bark, moss, and other wild plantlife. Some may tap trees to make syrup or chemicals.
Forest and conservation workers who are employed by or are under contract with state and local governments may clear brush and debris from trails, roads, roadsides, and camping areas. They may clean kitchens and restrooms at recreational facilities and campgrounds.
Workers with a fire protection background help to suppress forest fires. For example, they may construct firebreaks, which are gaps in vegetation that can help slow down or stop the progress of a fire. In addition, they may work with technicians to determine how quickly fires spread and how successful fire suppression activities were. For example, workers help count how many trees will be affected by a fire. They also sometimes respond to forest emergencies.
Salary
Median salary: $30,640 annually
Half of those employed in this career earn between $27,250 and $37,550.
Context: Median Salary
How do salaries for this career compare to other jobs' salaries?
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Salary growth for forest and conservation workers
Is this job likely to reward you for sticking with it through pay raises and promotions? The higher a job’s “experience quotient,” the more you are likely to get as you stay there.
Experience quotient percentile
Take a minute to look at how much you might expect your salary to increase with each five years' experience, as well as how the numbers working at each age change. Does this seem to be a job for the young or the old, or could it be a career offering steady salary growth for many years?
Salary distribution
Number employed
About Forest and Conservation Workers
How do benefits for this career compare to other jobs? The availability of health care, especially employer provided health care, and pension plans can add significantly to the value of compensation you receive in a career. These charts compare how this career compares to other careers with regard to health care and pension plans.
Employee has health insurance
Employer is providing health insurance
Employer-provided pension plan is available
Worker concerns
Some jobs are more stressful than others, and some are just plain dangerous. The following list gives the percentages of forest and conservation workers who report hazardous or difficult situations typically occurring at least once a week.
- Responsible for Others' Health (79%)
- Time Pressure (47%)
- Minor Burns, Cuts, Bites (46%)
- Exposed to Contaminants (43%)
- High Conflict Frequency (37%)
- Hazardous Conditions (35%)
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Personality and skills
Can you see yourself in the ranks of Forest and Conservation Workers? Here are the skills and traits that could lead to success.
Communication skills
Forest and conservation workers must convey information effectively to technicians and other workers.
Decisionmaking skills
Forest and conservation workers must make quick, intelligent decisions, especially when they face dangerous conditions.
Detail oriented
Forest and conservation workers must watch gauges, dials, or other indicators to determine whether equipment and tools are working properly. Workers must follow safety procedures with precision.
Listening skills
Forest and conservation workers must give full attention to what their superiors are saying. They must understand the instructions they are given before performing tasks.
Physical stamina
Forest and conservation workers plant trees and repeatedly perform a variety of physical tasks. They also must be able to walk long distances through densely wooded areas and carry heavy equipment with them.
Injury and Illness
About 293 forest and conservation workers become injured or ill for every 10,000 workers, making this job more dangerous than 97% of other careers. The most common specific concerns detailed following.
Sprains, strains, tears
Education pathways to this career
Education attained by forest and conservation workers
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), forest and conservation workers typically hold a high school diploma or equivalent.
Sometimes the typical education identified by the BLS differs a bit from the reality of the how much education current workers actually have. The donut shows the education level held by people currently working as forest and conservation workers as reported in responses to the American Community Survey.
Details: Education and training recommended for forest and conservation workers
Forest and conservation workers typically need a high school diploma and a valid driver’s license before they begin working. Some vocational and technical schools and community colleges offer courses leading to a 2-year technical degree in forestry. The programs typically offer courses in forest management technology, wildlife management, conservation, or timber harvesting. Programs that include field trips to watch and participate in forestry activities provide particularly good background knowledge.
Education level of Forest and Conservation Workers
Only 23% of forest and conservation workers have a bachelor's degree or higher.
Education attained by forest and conservation workers
None
High School
Some College
Associate's Degree
Bachelor's Degree
Master's Degree
Professional Degree
Doctorate
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Programs recommended by the Department of Education
The Department of Education recommends the following college degree programs as preparation for this career. You can click a program row to learn more about the program and explore a list of schools that offer the program.
Where are the jobs
State-by-state employment numbers
Some careers tend to be centered in specific parts of the country. For example, most jobs in fashion are in New York or California. Let's see if your dream job is easy to find in your dream location! We have a few choices for viewing the data that can help you get a full employment picture.
Select a state to see local area details
Number of Forest and Conservation Workers per 1,000 workers (ACS)
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Job density versus job count
Which states hire the most forest and conservation workers? We wonder if that's a fair question since states come in all sizes, so instead let's start with the question of which states have the highest density of people working as forest and conservation workers. You can choose to view the number of jobs per state if you prefer.
Salaries by state
Let's get a feel for where forest and conservation workers earn the highest salaries. There are several choices for which data we consider and how we view that data, and each can lead to different conclusions, so please read on...
Median salary versus state ratio
We use two methods to compare salaries across states:
- In-state comparisons: the ratio of median (middle) salaries for forest and conservation workers compared to the median salary for all people working in each state, or
- Median salary: the unaltered median salaries for forest and conservation workers.
The darkest shading corresponds to states in which forest and conservation workers earn the highest salary when compared to other jobs in the state. We think this figure might be a better indicator than the actual salary for your buying power as a state resident.
Select a state to see local area details
Location-adjusted median salary for Forest and Conservation Workers (ACS)
Employment
13% of Forest and conservation workers are working part time.
We’ve found that some jobs have a huge number of part-time workers, and typically that is because they are unable to find full-time work or the job itself can’t provide full-time hours. With 13% part-time workers, this occupation has a higher percentage of part-time workers than 51% of careers.
Employer types
This donut shares the break-down of workers by employer type, giving us a picture of what employers most typically hire for this career.
Employers of undefined (ACS)
Private for-profit
Private not-for-profit
Local government
State government
Federal government
Self-employed incorporated
Self-employed not incorporated
Working without pay
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Distribution: Salaries of forest and conservation workers by type of employer
Here are the salary distributions based on employer type.
Gender
Forest and conservation workers and gender
With 15% women, this occupation has a lower percentage of women than 72% of careers.
Gender of Forest and conservation workers
Men (85%)
Women (15%)
Distribution: salaries by gender
Does gender greatly influence your salary in this career? The closer the bars are, the less discrepancy there is.
We only include salary data when the survey error is less than 20%, so you may see only partial information for some categories.
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Context: Women in the workforce
How does this career compare to other careers with regard to the percentage of women in the career.
Context: Salary inequity
The median (middle) salary for all full-time male workers
in the US exceeds the full-time median salary for women
by 19%, and the difference
for forest and conservation workers tops that, with the median salary for
men 33% higher than the median
salary for women.
Race/Origin
Race and origin of Forest and conservation workers
This donut shows the distribution of race and origin among those employed as Forest and conservation workers.
Race/origin of forest and conservation workers
White (81% )
Other (8% )
Asian (3% )
American Indian (3% )
Black (2% )
Multiracial (2% )
Hispanic (1% )
Pacific Islander (0% )
Distribution: salaries by race/origin
Some careers might have a pay disparity based on race or origin, the closer the below bars are the less of a discrepancy is present.
We only include salary data when the survey error is less than 20%, so you may see only partial information for some categories.
