Farming, Fishing, and Forestry · Holland code RCI

Forest and Conservation Workers

Under supervision, perform manual labor necessary to develop, maintain, or protect areas such as forests, forested areas, woodlands, wetlands, and rangelands through such activities as raising and transporting seedlings; combating insects, pests, and diseases harmful to plant life; and building structures to control water, erosion, and leaching of soil. Includes forester aides, seedling pullers, tree planters, and gatherers of nontimber forestry products such as pine straw.

Also called: Forest Ranger, Forestry Support Specialist, Tree Farmer, Tree Planter, Christmas Tree Farmer, Conservation Officer, Field Laborer, Forest Resource Specialist.

O*NET 45-4011.00

At a glance

US median annual pay: $43,680; Middle half earn $37,440 to $45,760. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
Most common education: High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED); 44% of workers surveyed by O*NET report this level.
Preparation needed: Job Zone 2 of 5; Some preparation. Zone 1 is little or none; zone 5 is graduate-level.
US employment outlook, 2024 to 2034: -5% · Decline; 10,800 jobs in 2024, projected 10,300. BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, which groups this with similar roles as "Forest and conservation workers".

What the work involves

The tasks workers in this occupation rate as most important, from the O*NET survey.

Check equipment to ensure that it is operating properly.
Fight forest fires or perform prescribed burning tasks under the direction of fire suppression officers or forestry technicians.
Perform fire protection or suppression duties, such as constructing fire breaks or disposing of brush.
Maintain tallies of trees examined and counted during tree marking or measuring efforts.
Confer with other workers to discuss issues, such as safety, cutting heights, or work needs.
Explain or enforce regulations regarding camping, vehicle use, fires, use of buildings, or sanitation.
Operate skidders, bulldozers, or other prime movers to pull a variety of scarification or site preparation equipment over areas to be regenerated.
Spray or inject vegetation with insecticides to kill insects or to protect against disease or with herbicides to reduce competing vegetation.

Skills and knowledge it leans on

Skills

Critical Thinking3.1 / 5
Monitoring3.1 / 5
Reading Comprehension3.0 / 5
Active Listening3.0 / 5
Speaking3.0 / 5
Active Learning3.0 / 5

Knowledge areas

Public Safety and Security3.5 / 5
English Language3.5 / 5
Customer and Personal Service3.2 / 5
Administration and Management3.2 / 5
Geography3.0 / 5
Biology3.0 / 5

Importance ratings on O*NET’s 1 to 5 scale. Higher means the occupation depends on it more.

Who tends to enjoy it

How strongly this occupation draws on each of the six Holland interest types, which is the same profile the career interests test compares you against.

Realistic100
Investigative39
Artistic0
Social28
Enterprising34
Conventional51

The same work abroad

Other countries classify jobs differently, so these are the closest matches through the international ISCO-08 standard, not exact equivalents.

European occupation titles (ESCO)

forester · DE Forstwirt/Forstwirtin · FR forestier
forestry adviser · DE Forstwirtschaftlicher Berater/forstwirtschaftliche Beraterin · FR conseiller en sylviculture/conseillère en sylviculture
conservation scientist · DE Wissenschaftler Natur- und Artenschutz/Wissenschaftlerin Natur- und Artenschutz · FR agent chargé de protection et sauvegarde du patrimoine naturel/agente chargée de protection et sauvegarde du patrimoine naturel
nature conservation officer · DE Umweltberater/Umweltberaterin · FR chargé de mission patrimoine naturel/chargée de mission patrimoine naturel
forestry technician · DE Forstaufseher/Forstaufseherin · FR technicien forestier/technicienne forestière
forestry inspector · DE Forstwirtschaftskontrolleur/Forstwirtschaftskontrolleurin · FR inspecteur en foresterie/inspectrice du travail en foresterie

Closest UK occupation groups (SOC 2020)

Conservation professionals (2151)21,900 employed
Managers and proprietors in agriculture and horticulture (1211)40,300 employed
Rail and rolling stock builders and repairers (5236)16,800 employed

Employment is the UK Annual Population Survey for April 2025 to March 2026, all workers in the group, which can be broader than this one occupation.

Pay across Europe, for the whole group

Median annual earnings of all employees in “Professionals”. This is the broad ISCO group this occupation falls in, not the occupation itself, so treat it as context for the wage level, not as a salary for this job.

Median annual earnings, Professionals, by country
Country	Median pay
Belgium	€61,714
Germany	€59,529
Ireland	€56,877
Austria	€55,374
Netherlands	€53,595
Sweden	€43,567
France	€41,515
Spain	€35,735
Italy	€33,649
Portugal	€26,072
Poland	€14,380

Eurostat Structure of Earnings Survey, businesses with ten or more employees outside public administration, in euro and not adjusted for the cost of living. Reference years differ between sources: the US, Japan and Europe figures on this page come from different survey years, so compare them as rough levels, not to the euro or yen.

Exposure to AI

This occupation sits in the lower third of the 774 occupations scored, with an exposure score of -1.06. The scores are standardized across those occupations, so 0 is the average and a score of 1 is about one standard deviation above it.

Our note on reading it: the dataset links AI applications to the abilities that occupations require, so the score reflects overlap between the two. It is a comparison between occupations, not a forecast about jobs. It does not say whether exposure means tasks are replaced or workers get more done with the tools, and it says little about one employer or one role.

Source: Felten, E., Raj, M., & Seamans, R. (2021). Occupational, industry, and geographic exposure to artificial intelligence: A novel dataset and its potential uses. Strategic Management Journal, 42(12), 2195-2217. Matched to this page by 6-digit SOC code (45-4011).

Is it a fit for you?

Interest is one input, alongside ability, pay and what is hiring near you. The career interests test takes about thirteen minutes and ranks occupations by how closely their profile matches yours.

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