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

What is a forestry technician and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted Expert

Chris Stockdale

Have you ever dreamed of having a lion, tiger, or any other wild animal as a pet? If so, and you enjoy frequent visits to zoos, wildlife sanctuaries, or forests you might consdier becoming a forestry technician. They work to preserve and guard forests and wild animals.

Forestry technicial jobs are governmental positions and require only an associate's degree in forestry with no need for previous experience or an advanced degree.

As a forestry technician, you will not only safeguard forests and animals but also protect, and gather data related to forests, mountains, and grasslands in your area. You need to carefully maintian information about your area. Do be surprised if your friends call you a modern-day Tarzan!

What general advice would you give to a Forestry 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.

ScoreForestry TechnicianUS Average

Salary

2.8

Avg. Salary $35,758

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level

6.7

Growth Rate 9%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity

5.4

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 1.04%

Asian 7.11%

Black or African American 7.54%

Hispanic or Latino 17.82%

Unknown 5.87%

White 60.61%

Gender

female 23.94%

male 76.06%

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

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Key steps to become a forestry technician

Explore forestry technician education requirements

Most common forestry technician degrees

Bachelor's

61.2 %

Associate

23.6 %

High School Diploma

9.3 %

Start to develop specific forestry technician skills

Skills	Percentages
Harvest	32.27%
Patrol	12.49%
Natural Resources	9.92%
GPS	8.60%
Data Collection	5.95%

Complete relevant forestry technician training and internships

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

Research forestry technician duties and responsibilities

Participate in manage and prescribe burns, using ignition devices and drip torches.
Serve as a timber sale prep crew member completing field work and managing GIS data in support of land management projects.
Record data for timber sale plots in the USDA's require format.
Perform routine maintenance on foot trails to include spraying, mowing, and raking.

Prepare your forestry technician resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your forestry technician 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 forestry technician resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Forestry Technician Resume templates

Build a professional Forestry Technician resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your Forestry Technician resume.

Apply for forestry technician jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a forestry technician 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

How do forestry technicians rate their job?