thinking of becoming a forester

[allengohl]

Hey all, I'm kind of in a rut in my current career and have been seriously thinking about becoming a forester. I just want to hear from some actual foresters about the job. I've read a lot of the websites about the job and duties, etc, but in my experience they are always over glamorized or straight up lies. That's what put me in my current career in the first place..
Trying to weigh this decision before I jump head first into a career change.

What does your typical day consist of?
What kind of work do you (You you, not general you) do as a forester?
What is the current job market like and how is job security?
What areas of the country are best for forestry jobs?

Thank you in advance for your input.

 

[bitzer]

Well they drive around a lot. Talk a lot. Point at stuff a lot. Usually loggers try to make themselves scarce when they see them coming(it's daylight and we're working and talking about working is not working). They also walk around a lot. Spray things with paint a lot. Put ribbons on things a lot. They talk about how nice the woods looks when you're done and how it needed to be thinned. They ask for volume totals and want to know when the wood will be gone a lot. I could probably keep going. Forestry is kind of a niche here. There is room for more foresters but the ones that are good basically keep their jobs until they can't walk.

 

[Tenderfoot]

Forestry is a job you really have to love. Most of my friends who graduated, who are my age, are doing nothing but inventories right now (counting trees and estimating the amount of wood per acre) and drive around a LOT and walk around a LOT. A few are running forwarders and doing inventory at the same time. they all have jobs, but not where they wanted. Most wound up in Michigan or the west coast. You really do not make a lot of money until you are licensed, and a even then loggers make just as much. Its also hard to break into the industry without experience and a degree.

Its a really niche job and, in my opinion, a bit boring. Managing operations is more fun. A major to look into, if school is your thing, is Forest Operations, or how to run a logging operation. I dropped out for financial reasons and wound up doing firewood. Using what I learned a lot, but I learned nothing about silviculture. Did not need to.

 

[SliverPicker]

Never found a job that I could afford to accept. My B.S. in Forestry turned out to be just that.

After graduation I was offered jobs in the $10.XX range per hour. At the same time (in Durango, CO) McDonald's was looking for a night janitor. That position payed $13.XX per hour and had benefits. None of the forestry jobs I found had any benefits nor were they of the "permanent/ full time" variety.

Maybe things have changed?

 

[slowp]

I merely worked as a forestry technician. I started out as a tree planter--did not drive around a lot. Then got on a timber sale marking and cruising crew-did not drive around a lot, and onward. But I worked for the Feds so maybe others drive around a lot. I went to a technical school for this.

Job security? Even with the gubmint you need to be flexible. They are always in either a reorganizing mode or a downsizing mode so be prepared to move or stay put and maybe get forced into another line of work.

What is your workday like? Well, that depends on what you do. Cruising timber was get into the truck, drive to the unit, get out and walk, and walk, and measure, enter into a data recorder, walk...repeat. Marking timber? Lug an average of a gallon and a half of paint with you, mark trees to be cut or trees to be left...walk walk walk uphill, downhill, on hot days, on cold days, on snowshoes, on rocks, etc. All day long. I could eat whatever I wanted and not get fat. Not a lot of driving and talking involved.

I finished in my favorite line, which is probably what Bitzer is writing about. Checking for contract compliance, making changes, and trying to get an outcome that will please everybody. And yes, there can be a lot of driving if you've got a lot of operations going. Talking a lot? Maybe not if the logger has a lot to do and you have a lot to do cuz time is money and time spent talking about Them Packers is not productive time for you or them. I liked working as a sale administrator because I do not like to plan and it was often a spur of the moment type of operation. You get a call at the office or home (Sundays at home) that they have a problem and need you out there ASAP. You've got to prioritize a bit. A lunchtime birthday party in the office is not more important than needing leave trees approved to be cut because they are too close together and the cut trees can't fit. YOU have to decide what you'll make of such a job.

If you work in the field, you'll be out in all kinds of weather. You'll have to get spendy footwear for summer and winter. If you work with operations, you'll sometimes need to be up on the unit at the butt crack of dawn, because that's when they start work. You can dink around and show up at noon but that makes you look lazy and you'll have a harder time "communicating". Remember, there's a lot of people and spendy equipment waiting for you to get out there sometimes.

Speaking of driving around, be prepared to drive on dusty, washboardy roads in the summer, and icy, snowy, muddy roads in the winter. If you work out here, you will need to put on chains in the winter at times. Gotta love getting icy water in your ears. Things aren't as wild as they used to be. I do not know of any roads with 100 loads a day coming out like in the 1980s, but you still need to be on your toes and have a CB radio.

Working for the feds, you can escape sometimes and go on fires. That's another world and you can make a bit more money. Speaking of money, I went from poverty to being comfy but I have just me to take care of. Comfy is enough.

 

[SliverPicker]

Listen to Patty. Read her posts more than once. She's been there and she's done that.

My advice is worth ever single penny you will pay for it.

 

[madhatte]

I've done a lot of different things in my Forestry career. Inventory, survival surveys, planting, fire, maintenance, GIS, the list goes on. It's a dicey business -- I ducked out in the late 90's because the contracting end was just not paying the bills, and the agencies weren't hiring. I did a hitch in the Navy, and came back to Forestry after that. That note above about "have to love it"? Totally true. I've found myself a niche that has held for a decade now, and is fun and rewarding. Not everybody does. I recommend a season or two on some sort of summer crew -- fire, inventory, whatever -- to see if it suits you. It really does take a certain kind to go out in the bugs and brush in the summer and the rain and snow in the winter. If that's you, Welcome. We need more Forestry folk. The universities have not been doing a good job of sending fresh blood to the field, and the profession has done a lousy job of promoting itself post-spotted-owl. Yet, somehow, a few still find their way.

 

[bitzer]

You guys know I'm teasing a little. I've only met a Forester or two that doesn't talk your ear off. I don't talk a lot at work though so maybe a little is a lot to me.

If you work as an industrial Forster for a mill buying timber stands and logs you will make around $50k per year with benefits. Company car and expenses etc. That's for a good outfit here. They drive around and talk a lot. Lots of free time for hunting too it seems. You have to be good with people to buy their timber. You need to be a salesman but not too pushy. There are a lot of unknowns in the timber industry to the average Joe. Trust is a big thing.

 

[slowp]

You guys know I'm teasing a little. I've only met a Forester or two that doesn't talk your ear off. I don't talk a lot at work though so maybe a little is a lot to me.

If you work as an industrial Forster for a mill buying timber stands and logs you will make around $50k per year with benefits. Company car and expenses etc. That's for a good outfit here. They drive around and talk a lot. Lots of free time for hunting too it seems. You have to be good with people to buy their timber. You need to be a salesman but not too pushy. There are a lot of unknowns in the timber industry to the average Joe. Trust is a big thing.

Yah, I know, but does the OP know? When I was in exile, and after having done sale admin for a decade, I was at timber cruiser training and actually overheard a conversation where a bright minded guy was saying that women could never work in sale admin because they couldn't talk about sports and stuff. I've never arrived on a landing where How About Those Seahawks was the greeting. It's more like, Our Hooktender Is On His Way Up To Show You The Trees We Need Approved And Marked.

You may substitute Packers for Seahawks. I have actually had the cheese on my head but in a small, Wisconsin bar--not at work.

 

[bitzer]

I never talk sports with my forester. Truckers yes, but not much then either. Usually the trucker is in more of a hurry then I am. Most conversation on the landing is about the job or the next job or someone else's job or someone else's breakdown or my breakdowns or the weather or how much wood I'm putting out or how much wood the other loggers are putting out or the landowners, or the mills or the price of wood, etc... When my forester shows up I don't ask a lot of questions unless I really need to. He's a good guy, but conversations get lengthy in a hurry. He buys a lot of wood for me and he puts big broad bands around every tree which is a big deal to me.

 

[Deleted member 110241]

Hey all, I'm kind of in a rut in my current career and have been seriously thinking about becoming a forester. I just want to hear from some actual foresters about the job. I've read a lot of the websites about the job and duties, etc, but in my experience they are always over glamorized or straight up lies. That's what put me in my current career in the first place..
Trying to weigh this decision before I jump head first into a career change.

What does your typical day consist of?
What kind of work do you (You you, not general you) do as a forester?
What is the current job market like and how is job security?
What areas of the country are best for forestry jobs?

Thank you in advance for your input.

Beeing that I live across the pond I have no answers that are of any relevance but I have just finished an education for cruising timber over here and there is one thing that stands out in this career and that is:
-are you prepared to work alone all day every day?
That is the #1 reason for foresters or forest technicians to quit their jobs and look for something closer to civilisation.
I have worked in the woods since 2004 and have had 1 or 2 colleagues with me most of the time. Now that I have been out doing inventory for a few months I can say that there is a big difference if you have someone with you or not.
I like being alone so it's not a problem for me but I do believe that this is a big deal breaker for a lot of people.

 

[madhatte]

I prefer working alone most of the time. I also love working with a crew. Fortunately I have winter for the former and fore season for the latter. Variety keeps things interesting.

 

[bitzer]

Another thread gone dead where real people took real time to give real advice and the op doesn't even have the balls to say thank you.

 

[madhatte]

It's OK, maybe somebody will stumble onto it later via Google search.

 

[1270d]

Don't you just love cutting marked sales where they only mark one side? I would definitely pay extra to have them banded like you say.

Most of the wood here is marked by summer students or has beens and I don't think they raise their sight level above ten feet. Many times there will be a nice potential veneer maple marked to cut and a total cull left standing next to it.

 

[madhatte]

Most of the wood here is marked by summer students or has beens and I don't think they raise their sight level above ten feet. Many times there will be a nice potential veneer maple marked to cut and a total cull left standing next to it.

Poor marking is a matter of poor QA and poor training. Blame the forestry technician in charge of the crew, not the seasonals. I say this knowing that my leadership mistakes are pretty obvious every sale, and every one is a matter of me failing to see a crew member's error before the contract is written. When we get it right, it's also not my success -- it's my crew who did things right and didn't leave me any mistakes to find later. Do not pass that fault on to the untrained or inexperienced.

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

They use ribbon here. Let's just say the ribbons sometimes happen to fall off.

 

[slowp]

Don't you just love cutting marked sales where they only mark one side? I would definitely pay extra to have them banded like you say.

Most of the wood here is marked by summer students or has beens and I don't think they raise their sight level above ten feet. Many times there will be a nice potential veneer maple marked to cut and a total cull left standing next to it.

Our boss had us mark only one side on really steep ground. His logic was that fallers work going uphill so marking the downhill side would suffice. It meant a bit lighter pack for us and less scrabbling around on not quite vertical ground.

There has been a problem with the water based super secret Forest Service paint. I've had to remark trees where the new formula failed. I think that has been worked out but not sure if marking can be done in the rain anymore.

One answer here, what with low budgets so crews can't be hired, is to write the prescription into the contract and the timber sale purchaser carries it out, which means the purchaser or logger also marks the sale. The contract describes it so the sale administrator can check it by the stumps that are left and distances between leave trees. I showed a couple of misplaced Montana fallers how to mark and they loved doing it. Unfortunately, they left their brand new cruiser vests out in the woods during mushroom season and the vests disappeared.

 

[madhatte]

We can't leave the marking to contractors but we have done prescription sales by basal area. Paint fading is an eternal problem, as are orphan trees after the sale. We mark 360 to try and attempt to prevent that but sometimes it's a simple matter of brush that grows up between the time the sale is marked and the time it's cut.