How To Become A Natural Resource Manager: What It Is and Career Path

What is a natural resource manager and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted experts

Helen Mango Ph.D.,

Dr. Rebecca Jordan

A natural resource manager is responsible for overseeing and implementing sustainability and conservation strategies. They do what they do to protect wildlife, trees, plants, soil, and water. Their work is done on parks, historic sites, construction sites, and mining sites. Natural resources managers work around human activities that may benefit or harm the natural environment. As a natural resource manager, you oversee conservation activities and ensure they are compliant with government laws and regulations. You also help develop plans for land use. Foresters, wildlife managers, parks managers, etc., are specialized natural resource managers.

Since it is a broad discipline, natural resource managers must have at least a bachelor's degree in any related field. Experience in a natural resources setting is also required. Natural resource managers work in private industries, academic institutions, government agencies, and regulatory bodies. They earn an hourly rate of $58 and an average gross salary of $119,938.

What general advice would you give to a natural resource manager?

Helen Mango Ph.D.

Professor of Geology and Chemistry, Castleton University

Emphasize skills learned - field, laboratory, computer, writing.... Also that geology is multi-disciplinary. It uses chemistry, physics, math, biology, tech.

ScoreNatural Resource ManagerUS Average

Salary

5.7

Avg. Salary $72,463

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.4

Growth rate 5%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

7.1

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 1.53%

Asian 1.41%

Black or African American 0.79%

Hispanic or Latino 2.47%

Unknown 3.44%

White 90.36%

Gender

female 35.67%

male 64.33%

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

7.4

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.1

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

6.3

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a natural resource manager

Explore natural resource manager education requirements

Most common natural resource manager degrees

Bachelor's

70.8 %

Master's

16.9 %

Associate

6.9 %

Start to develop specific natural resource manager skills

Skills	Percentages
Business Development	13.30%
GIS	12.45%
Management Plans	11.92%
Federal Agencies	8.24%
Natural Resource Management	7.27%

Complete relevant natural resource manager training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-2 years on post-employment, on-the-job training. New natural resource managers 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 natural resource manager based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real natural resource manager resumes.

Research natural resource manager duties and responsibilities

Manage Sharepoint site; develop administrative processes and procedures to facilitate more efficient and effective operations.
Manage operations and logistics, coordinating transportation of personnel, equipment, and supplies to ensure on-time arrival/departure.
Work with GIS and GPS software to create maps for presentations to leaseholders and government officials.
Work closely with project managers to ensure the QA budgets stay on track throughout the project lifecycle.

Apply for natural resource manager jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a natural resource manager job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams