Tree Planting and Forestry Jobs Overview

Do you have a genuine interest in making a positive impact on the environment beyond just recycling your paper and plastics? Are you the type of person for which climate change is more than a discussion point around the office water cooler? Or are you just looking for a job at which you can put your skills to work in an outdoor setting? If either applies to you, then a job in treeplanting or reforestation may be the perfect career.

Treeplanting and reforestation are activities to sustain or even expand forests so they can serve as renewable resources for a variety of human uses and environmental factors. Natural forest reproduction does not keep up with human demand. Therefore, there is a significant need for people in a wide range of careers to accomplish reforestation goals, from physically planting the trees themselves, managing the growth and health of forests to the myriad of planning roles needed to support the planting. In this section you’ll learn about:

• Treeplanting Jobs
• Silviculture Careers
• Urban Forester Jobs
• Forest Service Law Enforcement Jobs
• Forest Firefighter Jobs
• Forest Technician Employment
• And More

On the flip side, learn about logging jobs in another section of JobMonkey. Find out how to become a logger, a position that helps create forestry work!

Reforestation practices have been in existence for quite some time. The United States Forest Service estimates an average of 1.74 billion trees are planted in America every year, while that number is probably exceeded by that done in Canada. In the United States, reforestation has actually grown the size of forests over the past 100 years, with the American Forest and Paper Association reporting net annual growth of commercial forests exceeding harvests and general losses by 50 percent each year.

But the U.S. Department of Agriculture projects land available to forests in the United States to decrease by approximately 23 million acres by 2050, which is a loss of three percent from 1997. Therefore, reforestation on lands still available and those involved with it will become more valuable with time.

This JobMonkey topic will provide you with an overview of the reforestation industry, the necessity for the industry in both human and environmental terms and characteristics of the industry in Canada and the United States. The majority of topic pages focus on reforestation jobs and careers, including their descriptions, pay information, education and qualification requirements, as well as appropriate personal characteristics. While reforestation could be expanded to include all forms of natural or transplanted plants, berried or bushes, this topic will focus on trees and forests.

In addition, there are two interviews with industry experts towards the end of this section. Jim Wick is a consulting forester with Woodland Management Inc., a forest management consulting company and Jonathan (Scooter) Clark is a Canadian treeplanter.

Also included in this topic are useful industry facts, hiring companies and other information to assist you on your search for a job in the treeplanting and reforestation industry.