Think about going to school for it, just want to hear from someone who does it for a living.

You can pm me.

Thanks



And yes I realize the irony that my username is Forest and I made a thread about forestry.

Sounds like a perfect fit.
I have talked to several when they were on my property and it seems if you ask 10 different foresters a question you will get 10 different answers.

I would think that forestry school would be a breeze because there are no wrong answers.

Your last name isn't Gump is it?

My son went and got a job with the usda. Started out 38k. I hope you can make a good living and an impact.

If I'm head of the Silviculture division of Georgia-Pacific and one of my 5 candidates for the job has the first name Forest...guess who gets the job!

I say go for it.

BTW, I see job openings for foresters on a regular basis out here so it's nice to know you can likely find a job after matriculation.

What is it you would like to do in forestry? It's a pretty broad field: silviculture, timber cruising, timberland appraisal, research, forest products, logger, etc..

My good friend and his dad are Foresters, they make a good buck. But just like the fur market the timber market has its up and downs

It’s a good time to go to Forestry school. There’s a shortage of foresters and plenty of work. And you will never lack places to trap or hunt.

That’s what I was thinking.

My middle name is Forrest. If I decide to go for it I’ll put that on my resume nice and big.

I haven’t really thought about the different jobs with in it. I can’t seem to find anything on the web that gives the nitty gritty about each option.

I was a Peace Corps volunteer in the forestry program in Ecuador. My PCV buddy from Tennessee stayed on for a couple extra years working on an Agency of International Development agroforestry project in the Amazon. He ended up making a career out of international tropical forestry.

So, you never know where that forestry degree could take you. (Could tell you about some of the trapping I did in the Amazon basin!)

Forest,

I'm retired from 33 years with Alaska Division of Forestry. Did Timber Sale Administration in winter and worked fire in the summer. Pretty nice life, but not the career to choose if you want to make a bunch of money!

If you are interested in what the opportunities are up North, I can help steer you...

PS: I'm originally from Sussex County, NJ.

Pete

17 years and counting as a forestry technician. Good field to get into and alot of demand right now.

Thanks for the help and advice!

Sounds like a good field.

Get trained in Urban Forestry. That is where the money is at.

I run a Tree service. As stated forestry is a broad field you will want to narrow down what you want to do before going to school as most jobs in forestry do not require a degree at all anyways. If you do not want a government job skip school and just start working youll be money ahead.

Basically with that degree you can work for the forest products industry or government or set up a consulting firm. You won’t get rich working for the government and at some point you will wish you had made more money. Life is easier with money. Industry is good and you can buy timber and such. You need work experience before trying the consulting gig.

It’s a good way to make a living and every day is an adventure.

At this point the most profitable job in "forestry" that I can think of is Urban tree sales/consulting arborist. Most of the young generation cannot do sales because they cannot stand rejection. You can become a ISA certified Arborist without a degree you just need 4 years work experience then pass a test. You would work for a tree service selling customers on tree removal and trimming as well as consulting on what trees to plant were etc. Within 5 years of starting and after obtaining your Arborist certification you should be making 75,000+ per year especially on the east coast.

Forest -

In order to make serious money in any field you need education, training, life experience, industry experience, business experience, wisdom, confidence, and some charisma certainly helps.

If you can, invest in yourself in the front end to build your future career instead of jumping into a job and then wishing you could start over. Look into Hocking College in Ohio. They have an interesting forestry program.

I have conducted many highly managed timber sales as an attorney for the landowner to hire a consulting forester, write the contracts, send out bid packets, review bids, monitor performance, and enforce contract terms.

Check out local and state forestry associations to learn more details about job opportunities. Contact consulting foresters and state foresters for information.

Best wishes in your future!

graduated from PSC in 86,returned to work in the family logging business,my education helps me a lot.have a aas. in forestry.

Real world experience here, some may not want to hear it but here it goes: I have a BS in Forestry with a Minor in Admin of Justice, and a MS in Forest Mgmt. I graduated with my BS in 08 and my MS in 09. Terrible time to be fresh out of college and looking for work. I worked for the IL DNR, and enjoyed it but I knew it was a temporary thing. I was fortunate enough to be a head sawyer at a saw mill, then a TSI Forester for a forestry consulting firm. There was lots of work but hardly any money and long hot hours. And at the time, Obamacare wasn't a thing, so I didn't have many if any benefits. The feds did a lot of Full time-term or temporary forestry positions, but there was very few Full time permanent postings country wide.

I saw a chance to get hired on with the Feds (DOJ), and haven't looked back. I cut my teeth on the "killing grounds" of a US Penitentiary but I had to move to get into the fed system. It took a couple years and 3 moves to get home, but I finally got here. Now that I'm in the federal system, I qualify for all sorts of federal forestry jobs, but they don't pay much. I've nearly doubled my salary in 6 years where I'm at. I think I'll stay right where I'm at and get out with an early retirement as a LEO (at age 50) then go do something forestry related IF I FEEL LIKE IT.

When I transferred back home, one of my professors contacted me and asked me to come talk to his college class about life after grad school. I told him what I would say, and he said the kids need to hear real world experience. I told them a few things me and my brother (who the same degrees, but works for the state now) had learned:
1) Grad school is over rated. It makes you over qualified for darn near everything when employers are looking to get the cheapest man for the job. You are far better off to get a job then go back to school for a graduate degree.
2) If you like to work long hours for little pay in bad weather then stay in forestry.
3) Be sure to get a minor degree. Its not much, but its something to fall back on. I was a LEO before I went into college, but having a minor in Admin of Justice has helped me out.
4) If you can get a part time or term job with the feds, go for it. But always be on the lookout for other jobs. Term jobs can be for 2 years but they run out of money in 6 months (I've seen it happen more than once).
5) If you want to stay in forestry, you may have to leave for a while before you can get back home (or where ever you want to end up). The experience is what matters, not where. Fire fighting is a good foot in the door!
6) I've been all over the country working or training. You meet people in all professions, and I was surprised to see so many with forestry degrees but not surprised to see them working in some other field.
7) goes off #6, always remember your professional contacts! You never know when they can be of use.