Foresters
Agriculture, Food and Natural ResourcesO*NET 19-1032.00United States
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.
- Median annual earnings
- $75,511
- Projected change
- +3.2%
- Typical education
- Bachelor's degree
- Employment
- 13.24K jobs
50th percentile, United States
2025 to 2035
84% of the workforce
Growing to 13.67K by 2035
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ASU learning related to this career
These courses and certificates are connected through catalog career relationships and Lightcast skill tags.
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The work
What foresters do
Tasks reported for this occupation, ordered by how often they come up in the role.
- Monitor contract compliance and results of forestry activities to assure adherence to government regulations.
- Negotiate terms and conditions of agreements and contracts for forest harvesting, forest management and leasing of forest lands.
- Plan and implement projects for conservation of wildlife habitats and soil and water quality.
- Establish short- and long-term plans for management of forest lands and forest resources.
- Plan cutting programs and manage timber sales from harvested areas, assisting companies to achieve production goals.
- Determine methods of cutting and removing timber with minimum waste and environmental damage.
- Perform inspections of forests or forest nurseries.
- Map forest area soils and vegetation to estimate the amount of standing timber and future value and growth.
- Monitor forest-cleared lands to ensure that they are reclaimed to their most suitable end use.
- Supervise activities of other forestry workers.
- Develop techniques for measuring and identifying trees.
- Plan and direct forest surveys and related studies and prepare reports and recommendations.
- Provide advice and recommendations, as a consultant on forestry issues, to private woodlot owners, firefighters, government agencies or to companies.
- Plan and supervise forestry projects, such as determining the type, number and placement of trees to be planted, managing tree nurseries, thinning forest and monitoring growth of new seedlings.
- Choose and prepare sites for new trees, using controlled burning, bulldozers, or herbicides to clear weeds, brush, and logging debris.
Pay and outlook
What the job pays and where it is heading
Annual earnings range
Reported earnings by percentile, United States
- 10th percentile
- $47,222
- 25th percentile
- $59,742
- 50th percentile
- $75,511
- 75th percentile
- $92,790
- 90th percentile
- $116,705
The gold marker shows the median. Half earn more than $75,511 and half earn less.
Employment outlook
2025 to 2035 projection
+3.2%average or slower
202513,244 jobs
2035 projected13,668 jobs
424 more positions over the decade, before replacement hiring.
Preparation
Education levels
What people currently working in the career hold. These are not entry requirements.
- Bachelor's degree
- 84%
- Associate degree
- 13.3%
- Certificate
- 1.1%
- Some college
- 0.8%
- Master's or Professional degree
- 0.8%
Skills
Skills employers ask for
Technical skills appearing most often in job postings for this occupation.
How the work gets done
Core competencies
Broad capabilities associated with strong performance in this occupation.
- Active Listening
- Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
- Complex Problem Solving
- Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
- Reading Comprehension
- Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
- Critical Thinking
- Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
- Speaking
- Talking to others to convey information effectively.
- Judgment and Decision Making
- Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
- Writing
- Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
- Monitoring
- Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
- Systems Analysis
- Determining how a system should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect outcomes.
- Systems Evaluation
- Identifying measures or indicators of system performance and the actions needed to improve or correct performance, relative to the goals of the system.
- Coordination
- Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
- Time Management
- Managing one's own time and the time of others.
- Negotiation
- Bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences.
- Social Perceptiveness
- Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
- Active Learning
- Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
- Management of Personnel Resources
- Motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, identifying the best people for the job.
- Persuasion
- Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.
- Management of Material Resources
- Obtaining and seeing to the appropriate use of equipment, facilities, and materials needed to do certain work.
- Service Orientation
- Actively looking for ways to help people.
- Instructing
- Teaching others how to do something.
In the market
Job titles and employers
Recent job postings in United StatesCommon job titles
- 01Consulting Utility Foresters593 postings
- 02Foresters382 postings
- 03Utility Foresters217 postings
- 04Work Planners169 postings
- 05Procurement Foresters75 postings
- 06Urban Foresters71 postings
- 07District Foresters67 postings
- 08Natural Resources Specialists36 postings
- 09Production Supervisors34 postings
- 10Forest Supervisors33 postings
- 11Resource Foresters31 postings
- 12Transmission Planning Engineers31 postings
- 13Production Managers28 postings
- 14Utility Arborists27 postings
- 15Area Foresters26 postings
- 16Project Foremen21 postings
- 17Forestry Interns18 postings
- 18Registered Professional Engineers17 postings
- 19City Foresters15 postings
- 20Inventors15 postings
Top employers
- 01Acrt241 postings
- 02Asplundh Tree Experts241 postings
- 03Arbormetrics Solutions210 postings
- 04The Davey Tree Expert Company105 postings
- 05State of Washington47 postings
- 06Atlas Field Services44 postings
- 07State of California33 postings
- 08Commonwealth Of Pennsylvania31 postings
- 09Davey Resource Group31 postings
- 10American Forest Management29 postings
- 11Arbormetrics24 postings
- 12Colorado State University22 postings
- 13Rutland Lumber Co21 postings
- 14Sierra Pacific Industries19 postings
- 15State of Montana19 postings
- 16Forestry Department17 postings
- 17State Of Alaska17 postings
- 18ACRT Services16 postings
- 19American Electric Power16 postings
- 20Prf Forestry Specialists15 postings
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