Careers > Forest and Conservation Workers

Forest and Conservation Workers

$32.27K Median Salary 1.8K Job Openings (Annual Projection) -7.9% Job Growth

Find Colleges for this Career Find Certificates for this Career

About This Career

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.

Reported Job Titles

Christmas Tree Farmer, Conservation Officer, Field Laborer, Forest Ranger, Forest Resource Specialist, Forestry Support Specialist, Park Maintainer, Reforestation Worker, Tree Farmer, Tree Planter

Career data shown for:

Skills You'll Need

Click on skills to find related courses.

Abilities

Oral Comprehension

Problem Sensitivity

Oral Expression

Static Strength

Deductive Reasoning

Dynamic Strength

Far Vision

Flexibility of Closure

Multilimb Coordination

Near Vision

Stamina

Trunk Strength

Arm-Hand Steadiness

Category Flexibility

Control Precision

Depth Perception

Finger Dexterity

Inductive Reasoning

Information Ordering

Manual Dexterity

Perceptual Speed

Selective Attention

Speech Clarity

Speech Recognition

Visualization

Written Comprehension

Knowledge

English Language

Public Safety and Security

Administration and Management

Customer and Personal Service

Biology

Geography

Skills

Critical Thinking

Monitoring

Active Learning

Active Listening

Coordination

Judgment and Decision Making

Reading Comprehension

Speaking

Technology Skills

Geographic information system

Presentation software

Spreadsheet software

Electronic mail software

Data base user interface and query software

Office suite software

Operating system software

Word processing software

Map creation software

Project management software

Tools

Screwdrivers

Sprayers

Forestry saws

Ladders

Planters

Mowers

Earthmoving shovels

Tape measures

Geological compasses

Agricultural tractors

Recreational motorboats

Acoustic ear muffs or defenders

Harvesters

Hand sprayers

Distance meters

Weeders

Lawnmowers

Picks

All terrain vehicles tracked or wheeled

Portable data input terminals

Secateurs or pruning shears

Saws

Rescue truck

Global positioning system GPS receiver

Claw hammer

Power saws

Water pumps

Two way radios

Dump trucks

Hard hats

Spades

Power drills

Dibblers

Personal computers

Backhoes

Abilities

Oral Comprehension: The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
Problem Sensitivity: The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing that there is a problem.
Oral Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
Static Strength: The ability to exert maximum muscle force to lift, push, pull, or carry objects.
Deductive Reasoning: The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
Dynamic Strength: The ability to exert muscle force repeatedly or continuously over time. This involves muscular endurance and resistance to muscle fatigue.
Far Vision: The ability to see details at a distance.
Flexibility of Closure: The ability to identify or detect a known pattern (a figure, object, word, or sound) that is hidden in other distracting material.
Multilimb Coordination: The ability to coordinate two or more limbs (for example, two arms, two legs, or one leg and one arm) while sitting, standing, or lying down. It does not involve performing the activities while the whole body is in motion.
Near Vision: The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
Stamina: The ability to exert yourself physically over long periods of time without getting winded or out of breath.
Trunk Strength: The ability to use your abdominal and lower back muscles to support part of the body repeatedly or continuously over time without "giving out" or fatiguing.
Arm-Hand Steadiness: The ability to keep your hand and arm steady while moving your arm or while holding your arm and hand in one position.
Category Flexibility: The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.
Control Precision: The ability to quickly and repeatedly adjust the controls of a machine or a vehicle to exact positions.
Depth Perception: The ability to judge which of several objects is closer or farther away from you, or to judge the distance between you and an object.
Finger Dexterity: The ability to make precisely coordinated movements of the fingers of one or both hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble very small objects.
Inductive Reasoning: The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
Information Ordering: The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
Manual Dexterity: The ability to quickly move your hand, your hand together with your arm, or your two hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble objects.
Perceptual Speed: The ability to quickly and accurately compare similarities and differences among sets of letters, numbers, objects, pictures, or patterns. The things to be compared may be presented at the same time or one after the other. This ability also includes comparing a presented object with a remembered object.
Selective Attention: The ability to concentrate on a task over a period of time without being distracted.
Speech Clarity: The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
Speech Recognition: The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
Visualization: The ability to imagine how something will look after it is moved around or when its parts are moved or rearranged.
Written Comprehension: The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.

Knowledge

English Language: Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
Public Safety and Security: Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
Administration and Management: Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
Customer and Personal Service: Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
Biology: Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
Geography: Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.

Skills

Critical Thinking: Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
Monitoring: Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
Active Learning: Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
Active Listening: Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
Coordination: Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
Judgment and Decision Making: Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
Reading Comprehension: Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
Speaking: Talking to others to convey information effectively.

Technology Skills

Geographic information system: ESRI ArcView; Geographic information system GIS systems
Presentation software: Microsoft PowerPoint
Spreadsheet software: Microsoft Excel
Electronic mail software: IBM Notes; Microsoft Exchange; Microsoft Outlook
Data base user interface and query software: Blackboard software; Database software; Microsoft Access; Yardi software
Office suite software: Microsoft Office software
Operating system software: Microsoft Windows
Word processing software: 3M Post-it App; Evernote; Google Docs; Microsoft Word
Map creation software: ESRI Site Scan for ArcGIS; OpenDroneMap
Project management software: Mavenlink; Microsoft Project

Tools

Screwdrivers: Mini screwdriver sets
Sprayers: Chemical sprayers; Computerized weed spray trucks
Forestry saws: Crosscut saws; Head saws
Ladders: Extension ladders
Planters: Crop planters
Mowers: Rear brush hog mowers; Rear flail mowers; Side-mount rotary mowers; Tractor-mounted mowers
Earthmoving shovels: Fire plows
Tape measures: Diameter tape measures
Geological compasses: Underwater compasses
Agricultural tractors: Logging tractors
Recreational motorboats: Small power boats
Acoustic ear muffs or defenders: Protective ear muffs
Harvesters: Mechanical tree harvesters
Hand sprayers: Spray guns
Distance meters: Cordage measurers
Weeders: Weedeaters
Lawnmowers: Push mowers
Picks:
All terrain vehicles tracked or wheeled: All terrain vehicles ATV
Portable data input terminals: Data acquisition equipment; Data loggers
Secateurs or pruning shears: Bypass pruners; Hand pruners; Hydraulic pruners; Power pruners
Saws: Multi-purpose saw sets
Rescue truck: Fire trucks
Global positioning system GPS receiver: Global positioning system GPS receivers
Claw hammer: Claw hammers
Power saws: Chain saws
Water pumps:
Two way radios:
Dump trucks: Rock trucks
Hard hats:
Spades:
Power drills: Hand drills
Dibblers: Forestry dibbles
Personal computers:
Backhoes: Backhoe-equipped tractors