Foresters
What Foresters Do
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.
See full salary breakdown & percentiles →
Career Outlook
National employment outlook, 2024–2034.
- Related work experience
- None
- On-the-job training
- None
- Self-employed
- 3.4%
Source: BLS Employment Projections — 2024-2034.
How Much Preparation Does This Take?
Job Zone 4 of 5Job Zone Four: Considerable Preparation Needed
- Experience
- A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations.
- Education
- Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.
- Job training
- Employees in these occupations usually need several years of work-related experience, on-the-job training, and/or vocational training.
Source: O*NET Job Zones.
Key Knowledge Areas
Subject-matter areas this occupation draws on most, per O*NET.
- Customer and Personal Serviceimportance 3.9/5
- English Languageimportance 3.8/5
- Administration and Managementimportance 3.8/5
- Biologyimportance 3.7/5
- Law and Governmentimportance 3.4/5
- Mathematicsimportance 3.3/5
- Geographyimportance 3.3/5
- Public Safety and Securityimportance 3.3/5
Work Environment
What the day-to-day work setting is like, per O*NET.
- Telephone Conversations4.8/5
- E-Mail4.8/5
- Freedom to Make Decisions4.6/5
- Determine Tasks, Priorities and Goals4.5/5
- Contact With Others4.4/5
- Face-to-Face Discussions with Individuals and Within Teams4.4/5
Careers With Similar Skills
Occupations whose Transferable Skills profile most closely matches this one — a mathematical comparison, not observed data about people actually moving between these careers.
- Environmental Engineers94% skill match
- Civil Engineering Technologists and Technicians94% skill match
- Zoologists and Wildlife Biologists93% skill match
- Transportation, Storage, and Distribution Managers93% skill match
- Animal Scientists93% skill match
- Conservation Scientists93% skill match
- Veterinarians93% skill match
- Industrial Engineers93% skill match
Transferable Skills
Cross-functional skills this occupation draws on most, per O*NET — the kind that carry over to other careers.
- Complex Problem Solvingimportance 3.9/5
- Judgment and Decision Makingimportance 3.8/5
- Systems Analysisimportance 3.6/5
- Systems Evaluationimportance 3.6/5
- Coordinationimportance 3.5/5
- Time Managementimportance 3.5/5
- Social Perceptivenessimportance 3.3/5
- Negotiationimportance 3.3/5
Software & Technologies
Tools and software used in this occupation, per O*NET.
Hot Technologies
In-Demand Technologies
Other Software Used
- ESRI ArcView
- Forest Metrix
- Forest vegetation simulators
- Forest yield software
- Fountains Forestry TwoDog
- Geographic information system GIS software
- Global positioning system GPS software
- IBM Notes
Work Style
Personal work characteristics that matter most for this occupation, per O*NET.
- Dependability
- Leadership Orientation
- Integrity
- Cautiousness
- Attention to Detail
- Perseverance
- Achievement Orientation
Career Interests
This occupation’s RIASEC interest profile, per O*NET — how strongly it fits each of the six Holland interest types.
- RealisticHigh
- InvestigativeMedium
- ConventionalMedium
- EnterprisingMedium
- SocialLow
- ArtisticLow
This page includes information from the O*NET 30.3 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.
Where This Career Is Most Concentrated
Metro areas where foresters make up the largest share of local employment, relative to the national average (BLS location quotient).
- 1Mount Vernon-Anacortes, WA14.45× national avg
- 2Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater, WA13.03× national avg
- 3Duluth, MN-WI10.36× national avg
- 4Salem, OR8.31× national avg
- 5Eugene-Springfield, OR5.69× national avg
Possible Career Moves
A computed starting point, not observed job-change data — see the full list for why each one might fit.
- Conservation ScientistsLateral Move
- Zoologists and Wildlife BiologistsLateral Move
- Environmental EngineersCareer Change
- Industrial EngineersCareer Change
Related Education Programs
Schools that offer related fields of study, based on the NCES CIP-SOC crosswalk — not a guarantee that graduates enter this specific career.
Environmental Science
- Southern New Hampshire University (Manchester, NH)grads earn ~$55,733
- University of California-Berkeley (Berkeley, CA)grads earn ~$78,624
- University of California-Santa Barbara (Santa Barbara, CA)grads earn ~$63,628
- American Public University System (Charles Town, WV)grads earn ~$57,618
- University of Wisconsin-Madison (Madison, WI)
Environmental/Natural Resources Law Enforcement and Protective Services
- University of Denver (Denver, CO)grads earn ~$88,331
- Oregon State University (Corvallis, OR)grads earn ~$52,730
- California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo (San Luis Obispo, CA)grads earn ~$68,965
- University of Miami (Coral Gables, FL)grads earn ~$58,938
- American Public University System (Charles Town, WV)
Forestry, General
- Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Blacksburg, VA)grads earn ~$64,204
- North Carolina State University at Raleigh (Raleigh, NC)grads earn ~$86,357
- Reedley College (Reedley, CA)
- University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point (Stevens Point, WI)grads earn ~$55,724
- University of Florida (Gainesville, FL)grads earn ~$48,755