Foresters are intensely interested in the preservation of wildlife habitats and must seriously weigh the balance between economic interests and the health of the ecosystem when overseeing timber cutting or the extraction of other resources. The process of tree harvesting can damage wildlife habitats, creek beds, water quality, and soil stability. Foresters must continuously monitor tree cutting areas to ensure that no irreversible damage is done. Instruments used in surveying the health of a forest include clinometers to measure the height, the increment bores and bark gauges to measure the growth of trees. Increasingly, advanced survey methods like photogrammetry and remote sensing (aerial photographs taken from airplanes and satellites) are used for mapping large forest areas and detecting the effects of forest and land use. Computer programs are often used to evaluate forest growth patterns and simulate the effects of forest fires, climate changes, recreational use, and timber cutting.
Related Professions
- Forest Ranger
- Forestry Technician
- Service Forester
- Forest Fire Officer
- Farm Manager
- Forest Entomologist
The minimal educational requirement for a professional forester is a four year bachelor's degree in forestry. Presently 55 colleges and universities offer a bachelor's or more advanced degree in forestry, and the Society of American Foresters has accredited 45 of these programs. A typical college program stresses an understanding of mathematics, computers, and science. Students are required to take a core curriculum of science and math courses, which includes biology, chemistry, ecology, agronomy, physics, and calculus. The use of computers to monitor and simulate forestry and land use practices, especially with the powerful geographic information systems (GIS) program, is common in many forestry programs. Students are usually required to do a field project on the specialty of their interest. Students are also encouraged to do a summer internship or paid training program in a forest or park working with professionals in the field. In addition, most programs offer courses in forest economics and business administration, which help prepare students for administrative and managerial responsibilities.
Professional Certification
Some states require foresters to be registered or licensed in order to provide professional consulting services to companies or individuals. Contact the Society of American Foresters, listed at the end of this article, for further information.
Setting
Due to the nature of work, foresters spend a fair amount of time outdoors. Most national forests are large, and foresters are required to travel deep into
Ranch Manager Soil Scientist Conservation Technician Environmental Scientist Forest Hydrologist the woods, sometimes for several days. Because of the rural setting, foresters should be comfortable living in rural areas. Most foresters live in or near their place of work. Many foresters are provided housing in the national forest, and living conditions vary from basic with no electricity or running water, to comfortable and modern accommodations. Others live in rural communities or towns that border on national parks.
Employment Statistics And Major Employers
Foresters work for federal, state, and local governments, and in private industry and academia. In 1992 about 31,000 foresters were employed in the United States. While foresters are employed in every state, they are most heavily concentrated in the West and Southeast, which have the majority of private and public forests, and where most of the lumber and pulpwood operations are located. About 45 percent of all foresters work for private industry, mainly as caretakers of forest stands for wood and paper product companies. A small percentage of these individuals work in urban settings as tree care specialists.
Approximately 43 percent of foresters work for the federal, state, and local governments. In the federal government, foresters are employed mostly at the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Department of the Interior. State and local government forestry departments employ the remainder of these professionals. See Appendix H for a state by state listing of forestry agencies. The remaining 12 percent work as consultants or in academic settings.
