Foresters

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. May determine how to conserve wildlife habitats, creek beds, water quality, and soil stability, and how best to comply with environmental regulations. May devise plans for planting and growing new trees, monitor trees for healthy growth, and determine optimal harvesting schedules.

Most important skills

Reading Comprehension
Speaking
Critical Thinking
Monitoring
Active Listening
Complex Problem Solving
Judgment and Decision Making
Writing

Key knowledge

Biology
Mathematics
English Language
Geography
Administration and Management
Customer and Personal Service
Law and Government
Administrative

What the work involves

Monitor contract compliance and results of forestry activities to assure adherence to government regulations.
Establish short- and long-term plans for management of forest lands and forest resources.
Supervise activities of other forestry workers.
Choose and prepare sites for new trees, using controlled burning, bulldozers, or herbicides to clear weeds, brush, and logging debris.
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.
Negotiate terms and conditions of agreements and contracts for forest harvesting, forest management and leasing of forest lands.
Direct, and participate in, forest fire suppression.
Determine methods of cutting and removing timber with minimum waste and environmental damage.

Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Realistic, Investigative, Conventional.

Qualifications and licensing

Most common education: Bachelor's Degree (72.9% of expert ratings)
Related experience: Over 1 year, up to and including 2 years (30.6%)
On-the-job training: Over 6 months, up to and including 1 year (26.5%)
Preparation level: O*NET job zone 4: Job Zone Four: Considerable Preparation Needed
Licensing: Not yet verified. Check your state licensing board.

Check before planning

Licensing for Foresters is not yet verified for any state: check the state licensing board before planning.

Limits

Distributions show what current workers or occupational experts report, not legal minimums.
Requirements vary by employer and state; time to qualify is not estimated.

Source: O*NET 31.0 Database (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0); BLS Employment Projections · dataset 2026.10.8 · method e3-qualification-1.0.0

Work environment

How the typical conditions of this occupation compare with 911 occupations in O*NET (very low = the lowest fifth).

Levels are relative. Most occupations involve a lot of contact with people, for example, so “very low” can still mean regular contact; the last column shows what workers actually reported.

Rankings compare typical U.S. occupation-level work conditions; individual jobs and employers vary. Data: O*NET 31.0 Work Context and BLS wages (May 2025).
Condition	Level	Compared with other occupations	Most common answer (O*NET survey)
Contact with others	Very low	Lower on contact with others than 83% of occupations compared	39% of surveyed respondents chose “Contact with others about half the time”
Dealing with the public	High	Higher on dealing with the public than 69% of occupations compared	43% of surveyed respondents chose “Very important”
Teamwork	Low	Lower on teamwork than 80% of occupations compared	39% of surveyed respondents chose “Very important”
Freedom to make decisions	Very high	Higher on freedom to make decisions than 85% of occupations compared	59% of surveyed respondents chose “A lot of freedom”
Time pressure	Very low	Lower on time pressure than 87% of occupations compared	53% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a month or more but not every week”
Conflict situations	Low	Lower on conflict situations than 70% of occupations compared	51% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a month or more but not every week”
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people	Low	Lower on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 68% of occupations compared	57% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a year or more but not every month”
Consequence of error	High	Higher on consequence of error than 64% of occupations compared	27% of surveyed respondents chose “Serious”

Work-pressure profile

Time pressure: very low
Conflict situations: low
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: low
Consequence of error: high

Each part is shown on its own. There is no combined stress score, and conditions vary by employer and role.

Full answer distributions