Profile of Forestry and Outdoor Recreation Jobs

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Overview

Total Employment 65,000 Employment Breakdown by Job Sector

Projected Growth

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, employment opportunities in forestry and outdoor recreation are expected to increase by about 12 percent by the years to come. This rate of increase is about as fast as the average for all occupations. State governments and private owners of timberland are likely to employ more foresters due to increased interest in environmental protection and land management.



Introduction

All life exists in a narrow zone between outer space and the solid mantle of the earth called the biosphere. Within this zone, life thrives in an interconnected balance, with each life form composing a piece of the complex web called the global ecosystem. The term ecosystem means the interacting of animals, plants, and bacteria in a natural hierarchy: from inorganic (nonliving) atoms and molecules, to increasingly complex units of cells, tissues, and organs that make up biological communities, species, and populations. This is an incredibly complicated system that requires the simultaneous interaction of millions or billions of organisms to produce and sustain even the simplest forms of life.

The part of the ecosystem that provides us with the resources for our food and shelter is a thin layer of rich earth called topsoil. This nutritious soil, averaging only 6 to 12 inches in depth around the globe, sustains all of land dwelling life. The great forests of the world are its most monumental product. The forests are highly important; they are home to most species of plants and animals, and provide humans with food, shelter, medicine, and recreation. They are also the global air purification system, for trees recycle carbon dioxide into oxygen. The root systems of trees and other vegetation also prevent erosion; they keep the fertile and life sustaining soil from being washed away and lost forever.

Throughout the brief history of the human species, which spans only a few hundred thousand years, humans have been just one of the individually insignificant components of the great ecosystem. In the past few hundred years, however, humans have begun to strain the balance of nature. We have decimated the great forests; lost billions of tons of topsoil to the sea; polluted the land, water, and air; and strained the carrying capacity of the land through overpopulation.

The job of environmental scientists or conservation scientists, as they are often called, is to study the global and local ecosystems and determine how best to preserve the environment and satisfy human needs. In order to reverse our destructive practices, a new approach to the environment is needed. This approach should focus not only upon local issues, but also on the overall management of the ecosystem. Everything is interconnected. The forestry and outdoor recreation professions, with their emphasis on the management of large biological communities, will increasingly be called upon to carry out this work.

Professions Related To Forestry And Outdoor Recreation
  • Animal Scientist   

  • Zoologist

  • Agricultural Scientist

  • Soil Scientist

  • Agricultural Engineer

  • Agronomist

  • Archeologist

  • Biologist

  • Earth Scientist

  • Ecologist

  • GIS Specialist

  • Environmental Planner

  • Plant Pathologist

  • Horticulturist

  • Landscape Architect

  • Arborist

  • Toxicologist

  • Recreation Planner

  • Ornithologist
Sources of Further Information
  • The New Complete Guide to Environmental Careers (1993). By the Environmental Careers Organization and published by Island Press. Contains separate chapters on recreation and forestry careers.

  • Conservation Directory (annual). By the National Wildlife Federation. In cludes a detailed list and description of government and nongovernment organizations engaged in conservation work both nationally and internationally.

  • Directory of the Forest Products Industry (1992). Published by Miller Freeman Publications. A 748 page who's who directory of the forest products industry, including sawmills, wood treatment plants, and ply wood mills. Includes individual company information such as addresses, product and volume, and the names and telephone numbers of key contacts. Look in the reference section of your local college or university for a copy.

  • Timber Harvesting (monthly magazine). By Hatton Brown Publishers. Each January issue contains a listing of personnel employed by the wood supply and forestry departments of all major pulp and paper companies and industrial timber firms in the United States.

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