About This Career

Under supervision, performs 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.

This career is part of the Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources cluster Natural Resource Systems pathway.

A person in this career:

• Checks equipment to ensure that it is operating properly.
• Fights forest fires or performs prescribed burning tasks under the direction of fire suppression officers or forestry technicians.
• Performs fire protection or suppression duties, such as constructing fire breaks or disposing of brush.
• Confers with other workers to discuss issues, such as safety, cutting heights, or work needs.
• Maintains tallies of trees examined and counted during tree marking or measuring efforts.
• Explains or enforces regulations regarding camping, vehicle use, fires, use of buildings, or sanitation.
• Sprays or injects vegetation with insecticides to kill insects or to protect against disease or with herbicides to reduce competing vegetation.
• Operates skidders, bulldozers, or other prime movers to pull a variety of scarification or site preparation equipment over areas to be regenerated.
• Thins or spaces trees, using power thinning saws.
• Identifies diseased or undesirable trees and removes them, using power saws or hand saws.

Working Conditions and Physical Demands

People who do this job report that:

• You would often handle loads up to 20 lbs., sometimes up to 50 lbs. You might do a lot of lifting, carrying, pushing or pulling.
• Work in this occupation involves use of protective items such as safety shoes, glasses, gloves, hearing protection, a hard hat, or personal flotation devices
• Exposure to pollutants, gases, dust, fumes, odors, poor ventilation, etc.
• Conditions are very hot (above 90 F) or very cold (under 32 F)
• Exposed to hazardous equipment such as saws, machinery, or vehicular traffic more than once a month
• Work in this occupation requires being outside most of the time

Working in this career involves (physical activities):

• Judging how far away an object is, or which of several objects is closer or farther away
• Using muscles repeatedly or over time without tiring
• Seeing clearly at a distance
• Seeing clearly up close
• Speaking clearly enough to be able to be understood by others
• Identifying and understanding the speech of another person
• Exerting oneself physically over long periods of time without getting out of breath
• Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying objects
• Using abdominal and lower back muscles repeatedly or over time without tiring

Work Hours and Travel

• Overnight travel
• Overtime work