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Career Details

45-4011.00 - Forest and Conservation Workers


Under supervision, perform 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.


Key Facts
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Bright Outlook
Career Details
Green Job
Career Details
Current Employment
14,000
Estimate
Forecasted Employment
14,600
Estimate
Change in Employment
600.0
Estimate
Change in Employment %
+4.2%
Estimate
Tasks
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Tasks
The tasks listed below can be performed to prepare you for a career in this field.
Core
  • Check equipment to ensure that it is operating properly.
  • Confer with other workers to discuss issues, such as safety, cutting heights, or work needs.
Supplemental
  • Fight forest fires or perform prescribed burning tasks under the direction of fire suppression officers or forestry technicians.
  • Perform fire protection or suppression duties, such as constructing fire breaks or disposing of brush.
  • Select or cut trees according to markings or sizes, types, or grades.
  • Identify diseased or undesirable trees and remove them, using power saws or hand saws.
  • Spray or inject vegetation with insecticides to kill insects or to protect against disease or with herbicides to reduce competing vegetation.
  • Drag cut trees from cutting areas and load trees onto trucks.
  • Thin or space trees, using power thinning saws.
  • Maintain tallies of trees examined and counted during tree marking or measuring efforts.
  • Gather, package, or deliver forest products to buyers.
  • Erect signs or fences, using posthole diggers, shovels, or other hand tools.
  • Prune or shear tree tops or limbs to control growth, increase density, or improve shape.
  • Select tree seedlings, prepare the ground, or plant the trees in reforestation areas, using manual planting tools.
  • Provide assistance to forest survey crews by clearing site-lines, holding measuring tools, or setting stakes.
  • Explain or enforce regulations regarding camping, vehicle use, fires, use of buildings, or sanitation.
  • Operate skidders, bulldozers, or other prime movers to pull a variety of scarification or site preparation equipment over areas to be regenerated.
  • Examine and grade trees according to standard charts and staple color-coded grade tags to limbs.
  • Maintain campsites or recreational areas, replenishing firewood or other supplies and cleaning kitchens or restrooms.
  • Sow or harvest cover crops, such as alfalfa.
  • Sort tree seedlings, discarding substandard seedlings, according to standard charts or verbal instructions.
All data sourced from US Department of Labor, Employment & Training Administration O*Net Database.
Knowledge
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Knowledge

The items listed below are organized into sections that contain knowledge useful for pursuing a career in this field. Each section also contains a "Percentage of Importance" statistic that shows how relevant an item is to the occupation.
 Geography
  • 81%
    Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.
 English Language
  • 76%
    Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
 Public Safety and Security
  • 74%
    Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
 Clerical
  • 74%
    Knowledge of administrative and clerical procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and other office procedures and terminology.
 Biology
  • 68%
    Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
 Law and Government
  • 67%
    Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
 Mathematics
  • 66%
    Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
 Computers and Electronics
  • 66%
    Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
 Economics and Accounting
  • 66%
    Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
 Administration and Management
  • 64%
    Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
 Customer and Personal Service
  • 60%
    Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
 Education and Training
  • 60%
    Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
 Transportation
  • 57%
    Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
 Mechanical
  • 57%
    Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
 Personnel and Human Resources
  • 55%
    Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
All data sourced from US Department of Labor, Employment & Training Administration O*Net Database.
Tools
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Tools
The tools listed below include machines, equipment, tools, and software that is useful for individuals who are interested in this career.
 Dispersing and spraying appliances for agriculture
  • Backpack sprayers
  • Herbicide sprayers
 Agricultural machinery for harvesting
  • Brush hogs
  • Harvesting machines
 Power tools
  • Chain saws
  • Power drills
 Forming tools
  • Claw hammers
  • Mattocks
 Forestry machinery and equipment
  • Epicormic knives
  • Pruning saws
 Specialized and recreational vehicles
  • Four wheel drive 4WD vehicles
  • Multipurpose tractors
 Audio and visual equipment
  • Geodetic ground global positioning system GPS receivers
 Computers
  • Personal computers
 Wrenches and drivers
  • Phillips head screwdrivers
  • Straight screwdrivers
 Computer data input devices
  • Portable data collectors
 Hearing protectors
  • Protective ear muffs
 Pumps
  • Water pumps
All data sourced from US Department of Labor, Employment & Training Administration O*Net Database.
Technology
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Technology
The technologies listed below include machines, equipment, tools, and software that is useful for individuals who are interested in this career.
 Data management and query software
  • Database Software
  • Microsoft AccessHOT
 Information exchange software
  • ESRI ArcGIS softwareHOT
  • Geographic information system GIS softwareHOT
  • IBM Lotus Notes
  • Leica Geosystems ERDAS IMAGINE
  • Microsoft OutlookHOT
 Content authoring and editing software
  • IBM Lotus 1-2-3
  • Microsoft ExcelHOT
  • Microsoft PowerPointHOT
  • Microsoft WordHOT
  • Word processing software
 Business function specific software
  • Microsoft OfficeHOT
  • Microsoft ProjectHOT
All data sourced from US Department of Labor, Employment & Training Administration O*Net Database.
Certifications
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Certifications
The certifications listed below are useful to pursue if you are interested in a career in this field.
 Advanced
 Core
All data sourced from US Department of Labor, Employment & Training Administration O*Net Database.
Licensing
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Licensing
The licensing information below is organized into sections and is useful for pursuing if you are interested in a career in this field.
No specific licensing information is listed for this occupation in the area you have selected.
All data sourced from US Department of Labor, Employment & Training Administration O*Net Database.
Related Programs
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Online Programs related to this career, offered by participating institution(s), are listed below.

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A program directly related to this occupation is currently not offered by any of our partner institutions. You should contact the Institution(s) you are considering to discuss other options that may meet your needs and background.