How To Become A Range Technician: What It Is and Career Path

What is a range technician and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted expert

Chris Stockdale

The chief responsibility of a range technician is to monitor open, grassy areas, otherwise known as rangeland. They write permits so that ranchers can let their cattle graze on the range and usually maintain the land and the soil.

A range technician is also responsible for submitting requirements to government agencies and addressing issues as they arise. In the event of land misuse, the range technician must work with local law enforcement to address the problem and help ensure that it does not happen again.

There is no specific educational requirement for this position as experience and skills are more important. In terms of skills, a range technician must be highly communicable, have a keen eye for detail, and be able to solve problems swiftly and effectively. On the other hand, they must also have experience working on a range, processing range-related documents, and working with ranchers and other people who use the land.

What general advice would you give to a range technician?

Chris Stockdale

Lead National Recruiter, Forest Service

Be open to various opportunities, and take chances on occupations and locations that you may not have considered before. Many of our opportunities are rural, even remote locations, near our national forests and grasslands. You may have studied environmental sustainability, agriculture, or natural resource management - but we need many forestry technicians to work in our timber programs and learn how we carefully manage (to include harvest and timber sales) our natural resources in a sustainable way. You may have a degree in geology, physics, or other physical sciences - we need engineering technicians to help with forest roads and other environmental projects. Your first position likely will not be your last position with us; starting a career with us, you will have the opportunity to grow and contribute in several ways. Your first job with us is building on a foundation that can help get you where you want to be professionally, and you may not even know where that is yet.

ScoreRange TechnicianUS Average

Salary

2.8

Avg. Salary $36,047

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

6.7

Growth rate 4%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

5.3

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 1.05%

Asian 7.77%

Black or African American 8.90%

Hispanic or Latino 16.16%

Unknown 6.10%

White 60.02%

Gender

female 21.45%

male 78.55%

Age - 35

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 - 35

Stress level

6.7

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

7.0

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

4.1

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a range technician

Explore range technician education requirements

Most common range technician degrees

Bachelor's

57.8 %

Associate

21.4 %

High School Diploma

11.2 %

Start to develop specific range technician skills

Skills	Percentages
Noxious Weeds	14.96%
Management Plans	12.40%
Compliance Checks	10.80%
GPS	7.28%
BLM	5.49%

Complete relevant range technician training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New range technicians 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 range technician based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real range technician resumes.

Research range technician duties and responsibilities

Manage fire crews on active wildland fires, supervise safety and coordinate fire suppression.
Utilize GIS & GPS technologies to collect location data, monitor, sample, and map natural resources using GPS/GIS units.
Complete ATV and vehicle training.
Experience with GIS software including ArcMap and ArcGIS.

Prepare your range technician resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your range technician resume.

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