How To Become A Land Management Forester: What It Is and Career Path

What is a land management forester and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted Expert

Justin Kunkle PhD

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a land management forester. For example, did you know that they make an average of $25.75 an hour? That's $53,554 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 5% and produce 1,800 job opportunities across the U.S.

What general advice would you give to a Land Management Forester?

Justin Kunkle PhD

Director of Undergraduate Studies, Michigan State University

The day-to-day tasks of a forester include conducting fieldwork, managing forests, developing forest management plans, analyzing data, and ensuring sustainable practices. Someone entering the field may start by assisting senior foresters, learning about different tree species, and understanding forest management techniques.

ScoreLand Management ForesterUS Average

Salary

4.2

Avg. Salary $53,554

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level

6.6

Growth Rate 5%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity

7.1

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 1.07%

Asian 1.41%

Black or African American 0.77%

Hispanic or Latino 2.46%

Unknown 2.89%

White 91.40%

Gender

female 30.50%

male 69.50%

Age - 41

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 41

Stress Level

6.6

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

7.9

Complexity Level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

6.8

Work Life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a land management forester

Explore land management forester education requirements

Most common land management forester degrees

Bachelor's

60.2 %

Associate

15.9 %

Master's

11.5 %

Start to develop specific land management forester skills

Skills	Percentages
Harvest	42.23%
GIS	24.30%
BLM	17.12%
GPS	12.01%
Mowing	4.33%

Complete relevant land management forester training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-2 years on post-employment, on-the-job training. New land management foresters learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a land management forester based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real land management forester resumes.

Research land management forester duties and responsibilities

Manage landowner survey program to meet SFI standards.
Prepare GIS data and maps for trail signing needs.
Utilize GIS to validate and verify all access requests and accuracy of grants and permissions issue.
Develop and regulate company policies on recreation, and ATV and snowmobile use on company lands.

Prepare your land management forester resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your land management forester resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a land management forester resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

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