I'm with Eagleye on this one. I was actually enrolled for forestry and about to quit my job for school when I saw the pay scale...
My wife is a surveyor and civil engineer, lots of time outdoors, good pay and opportunities to go in many different directions.
Good Luck! Regardless of what you do go all in and don't give up on it.

you have a love of the outdoors and some experience in nature.never make a biologist.

One last point thats hinted at but has not really been answered.

Is ones past experience in hunting/fishing/trapping worth anything on a resume?
Logically you'd think so but for the most part your dealing with Gov't employees.
The higher up usually means more education, these are the ones that do the hiring.
They put more value in education than experience. Its not unique in Wildlife Biology.

So I'd bet between 2 applicants the one with more experience in the outdoors and less formal education is at a disadvantage to one with less outdoors experience but more formal education.

Maybe some of the guys employed in the field could give their .02 on this.

^^^^^^^^^^
I think you're onto something there. Nearly all of the government employees I've dealt with in any natural resource oriented job seem to be outdoor wannabes. Many of them actually view folks the like us with a degree of disdain.

Obviously I'm old school. Yes, I have multiple degrees in wildlife management. Started professional field work when I was 15 on large predators. Have been in the game nearly 50 years. Through the years, I've been on many hiring teams or singly responsible for hiring technicians and professional biologists, even hiring of "bosses". To me, the university education is important for the applicant just to qualify for the job. However, most important to me, and absolutely why I have hired those that I did, was 1) their field experience, and 2) whether or not they were indeed consumptive users of the resource. Not how many degrees they had. There are many thousands of PhDs and Post-Docs out there that, in my book, are absolutely a joke, as they don't have the practical knowledge that one gets only from the field. As Waggler has stated, nothing but wannabees. I recently was on a hiring team for a state Fish and Game Department. The candidate that was hired as the statewide Furbearer Biologist was not the one with the most university education, but was clearly (to all of us on the hiring team) the one to hire, as his trapping background was infinitely superior to the rest of the field. Although I've been paid (meager) wages by various governmental entities, I like to think that I've never worked for an agency. I've always worked for the resource.

Keep that in mind Nikolas, and you'll do well.

Jack

Find a path you want to take, don't look back you've already been there...keep your head up and start hustling... I've always told my kids that as long as your feet are moving after everyone else has stopped...you will have success regardless of the the occupation you choose....p.s. don't blink...you'll be 60...Rod

Very well articulated , Jack. This is also very true for a number of other occupations in life ....thank you.

Find someone who has your dream job. Ask them if they will talk to you about their career progress and opportunities.

Most National Parks have a biologist. They get moved around but probably get paid well and have excellent benefits. Pensions become very important in your later years. Paid health insurance is breat bebefit too.

There are plenty of jobs for young people with a Wildlife Management/Biology degree. BUT, you have to be willing to move around. It amazed me how many guys thought they would get the "dream job" in their hometown or right down the road-it doesnt work like that. Ive lived in many different states working for different Gov agencies and doing alot of really cool stuff, but it sure as heck wasnt in my hometown. Get your degree and work your butt off to do what you. Spraying weeds for a summer might sound terrible but its about the connections you make along the way and showing people that you have a work ethic. In the big scheme of things the wildlife world is pretty small and good word can spread fast. Also, good work experience CAN count more than education if you've got good references and have the right experience. Good luck and remember that hard work does actually pay off

Since you are good at math, and if you like probabilities and statistics, look at becoming a biometrician.

Although you mentioned you like social studies, this should help you if you chose to become a bio-politician. Ton of work for these.

I received a degree in wildlife ecology and natural science and minored in dairy science. I worked on a farm for 2 years and taught technical school farm management and UW ag extension for 37 years. I would have liked to have been a wildlife biologist with an agency but the number of applications during the early 1970s was huge. I have been able to use my wildlife and natural science background considerably even if I was not directly employed in the field. Having a consumptive use background would be a great asset in the wildlife and biology field but we also have to understand that with the current state of state and national attitudes toward the value of science at many levels you take what is available for the jobs that are listed. I got to know many biologists in agencies over time and we shared much about our careers and the politics within mine and theirs.
I also feel that the trend toward softer natural science if you will shows the cultural shift in our society of many wanting to share in the outdoors but not be consumptive users. We do however have to instill in all the need to manage populations and ecosystems for the good of all and that in many cases includes managed harvests.

Bryce

Lots of good advice given, especially from the likes of Gulo. I graduated in 82 in Fisheries Biology at a time that jobs in California were like hen's teeth for white males. I was a fly fishing guide at the time and stayed with that track and it worked out well for me and my future bride. Out of several room mates I had at the end of college, two ended up doing well in Wildlife jobs with USFWS as refuge managers, two did well in range management and one other found another road instead of Fisheries. That said, none of them, even my brother after 40 years with the Forest service ending up at a high level, ever made as much money as they would have in other lines of work as mentioned by others. In my case, I would have never had the chance to make what I did in a government fisheries job.


At least in California, but no doubt other states, there is a huge lack of real outdoor experience in Fish and Game employees. Your life experience so far and that you will continue to gain will be a plus.


It is a decision along the way and not the last. Do what feels right and continue to be hungry. If another opportunity shows itself you'll know what to do at the time.

Good luck.

One thing you might want to do is to take a year off after high school and seriously look into several different fields. Don't just look at the year as an excuse to play, but have a serious plan, don't waste the year. Maybe go to Alaska during the summer and work at a fishing lodge, early fall work for a guiding outfit, later in the fall see if you can shadow a fish or wildlife biologist in your home State, get a hold of one of the mineral exploration companies working in the northern Midwest and see if you can shadow one of their geologists in the spring, etc, etc..

This may sound like a lot of work, it is, but it's better than spending four or more years racking up a bunch of student debt, and then find you have a degree in a field that you don't really like working in. I've known a lot of young folks over the years who have made hasty decisions right around high school graduation time just because they felt pressured to "figure out what you're going to do with the rest of your life". IGNORE THAT PRESSURE.

I have a degree in Wildlife and Fisheries biology. I worked with my degree for about two years. I never made any "real" money, but job satisfaction was high. I couldn't afford to go back and get my master's degree so started pipelining and now I've been in the coal mine for about 15 years. Like everyone has said job satisfaction faction will be great, monetary not so much. Follow your heart and do what you love to do. I wanted a house and more and realized I'd never afford it working seasonal technician jobs.

Go with your interests, especially if you are not financially committed to anything in life yet. You will be so much happier in life doing something you have interest in, than something that pays well. So many different avenues you could go down.

80 % of the folks working in the U.S. are NOT doing what they were either schooled at or want to do. The capitalistic system we live in affords a good wage for those will marketable skills in all fields - no brainer there. So lots of folks cast aside (or change) their chosen profession for a bigger paycheck which is not bad in my view. Once you become attached to a governmental agency you will have to make some political compromises that benefit political agendas and probably put the resource needs at a distant 2nd,,, so you may as well condition yourself for that. Telling it like it is biologically may not help your career (ask Major Boddicker). Privately you will start at the bottom or below and work up even with a masters degree so be prepared. With a degree in F&W management from MSU in 1980 I was in one of the last true science classes utilizing Bio-stats, Integral Calc, organic Chem. and all types of wildlife anatomy to gain some hard data for estimating wildlife needs, numbers, and trends (any of you old guys on here remember T-tests, paired T-tests, F-tests and how about the intrinsic rate of natural increase?). Heavy in math and stats. You may end up working with T&E species and watching "useful" wildlife go by the wayside as it is not "fashionable" in the current climate. Privately you will have to please the boss by showing some results that increase what he/she wants (more is better right?) so you will actually manage the habitat to mange the fish and wildlife. Never ceases to amaze me that people don't know the 3 categories that make up habitat and can't equate that 1 of those is limiting a population number. If truly interested in this job type, get to know the folks at the local government F&W agency and try for a summer job ----if you have to volunteer for a few hours/week then do so as when the time comes they will know who you are in that candidate pool. If interested privately do the same but you will be asked to multi-task more so some industrial arts classes will help get your tech skills polished. I just retired after 34 years w/USDA in the ag sector but handled a lot of projects (design and funding) that were F&W oriented. Prior to that I worked on a private fish farm and for a County Conservation District. Not much money but a heck of a ride..... the mike ......P.S. Harvested some fur along the way too!!!!!

Don't let school interfere with your education...

Please do not take this negatively. I wish you the best in whatever your endeavor is.

My high schools days ended at 11:00 am in 1975. Yes I graduated. I went to work at 12 noon that day. Dead end job @$2.35 hr.

For the next 12 years I kept working and looking for a better job. 12+ years later I landed a job with great pay/benefits.

While there I turned my vacation (trapping) into my vocation (nuisance wildlife business).

I kept my full time job.

I retired 5 days short of 56 yrs. old. I have not one dime of debt. I was married 3 times so I had some financial setbacks.

Point is while higher education is great. It is not necessary. If invested in stocks, the amount of money for college would return a ton of money when you are retirement age.

Fact: 8 of every 10 millionaires are now created through 401KS. Average time: 25-28 years.

That said if you make a career out of something you love it can take away some of the love from that activity.

I wish you well.

The idea of taking a year off to find one self is a luxury many of us that graduated HS in the mid 60s or early 70s could not afford. The draft was a real factor in our lives. I enrolled in college in 1966. I was poor and needed to work 24-3 hours per week while attending the university. So I did learn how to work and study so in some ways it was a valuable lesson for me. Ninety percent of life is how you deal with what happens to you not what happens to you.

Bryce

I took Gulos advice and never let school interfere with my education. Although been trying to find myself for 30 years.

Some things can’t be taught...happiness. Trapper Jake claims, good woman, good dog and a good horse is all a man needs.

Passion is a powerful commodity I followed my heart after testing “traditional” means of living. It worked out for me, even managed to collect a few dollars along the way.

Life is too precious not to enjoy.