Skills it runs on
The capabilities O*NET rates most important for this occupation — the human ground the work is built on.
See all skills →Foresters
Occupation · SOC 19-1032.00
Manage public and private forested lands for economic, recreational, and conservation purposes. May inventory the type, amount, and location of standing timber, appraise the timber's worth, negotiate the purchase, and draw up contracts for procurement. May determine how to conserve wildlife habitats, creek beds, water quality, and soil stability, and how best to comply with environmental regulations. May devise plans for planting and growing new trees, monitor trees for healthy growth, and determine optimal harvesting schedules.
Also called: Area Forester · Forester · Silviculturist · Timber Sales Administrator (Timber Sales Admin) · District Forester · Fire Prevention Forester · Forest Practices Field Coordinator · Procurement Forester · Service Forester · Timber Marker · Consulting Utility Forester · Debris Monitor
Job family: Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations
Take this to your AI
A source-stamped Markdown brief of this occupation — paste it into an agent, or fetch
/roles/role-19-1032-00/context.md directly.
AI work map
A fast read on where AI already shows up in this occupation, where it stays a copilot, where humans remain in the loop, and what the labor market is doing. Built from observed Claude.ai conversations mapped to O*NET tasks and from published research — measures of usage and exposure, not advice or predictions that the job is going away.
Market signal
Independent published positions, read together — not a forecast.
- About average employment outlook (+1.2% by 2034)
- 1,100 openings/yr
- Low AI exposure
- Median pay $70,660/yr
- Work is mostly on-site (not teleworkable)
38th-percentile task overlap — yet about 1,100 openings a year (+1.2% projected, BLS) . What exposure means →
AI & job outlook
What today's research says about this occupation's exposure to AI, how AI is actually being used in it, and where employment is headed. These are positions within published studies — measures of exposure and usage, not predictions that this job will disappear.
Exposure to current AI
Each study uses its own scale, so the raw scores are not comparable across rows — the percentile (this job's rank among all U.S. occupations with data) is the comparable figure, and sizes the bars.
| Measure | Rank vs all occupations | Percentile | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall AI exposure (Felten et al.) Moderate | 43rd | -0.2 | |
| LLM task exposure, γ (OpenAI / Eloundou) Moderate | 59th | 0.7 | |
| AI assistant applicability (Microsoft) Low | 18th | 0.1 |
OpenAI's exposure study scores tasks three ways: with a language model alone (α 0.0), with simple added tooling (β 0.4), and including AI-powered software (γ 0.7). Higher means more of the job's tasks could be done at least twice as fast — not that they will be automated away.
This job mostly cannot be done remotely (Dingel–Neiman) — its hands-on tasks sit outside what software-based AI reaches.
Historical automation estimate (2013)
A pre-LLM (2013) estimate of how automatable this job is by computerization and robotics. Shown for historical context only — it is not part of any current AI ranking.
Frey–Osborne probability 0.0 · 6th percentile among occupations · Low
Job outlook
Independent U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics employment projection for 2024–2034 — a labor-market forecast, not an AI-impact forecast.
| Outlook | About average · +1.2% by 2034 |
| Projected annual openings | 1,100 |
| Employment 2024 → 2034 | 13,800 → 14,000 |
“Annual openings” counts new jobs plus replacements for workers who leave the occupation, so it can be large even when growth is modest.
Where this work sits on the global GenAI gradient
The ILO's 2025 global study scores generative-AI exposure on the international ISCO-08 occupation system, not US SOC. Bridged through the published (and approximate, many-to-many) IBS O*NET-SOC ↔ ISCO-08 crosswalk, this US occupation corresponds to the international occupation below. Exposure here means how much of the work's tasks today's AI can attempt — task overlap, not automation, adoption, or jobs lost.
Foresters sits at the 54th percentile of 427
occupations on the global GenAI task-exposure gradient
— exposure eased from 2023 to 2025. Each dot is one occupation; the
ringed one is this work. Exposure is task overlap, not automation or jobs lost.
29% mean task exposure (2025)
54th percentile of 427 placed occupations
−2 pts shift 2023 → 2025
| International occupation (ISCO-08) | Task exposure (2025) | Most tasks fall in |
|---|---|---|
| Farming, Forestry and Fisheries Advisers · 2132 | 29% | Not exposed |
Read the whole six-band gradient on the GenAI exposure gradient page. The crosswalk is approximate: a US occupation can map to several international ones, and the ILO scores describe the international occupation, not this exact US role.
Tasks
All 25 tasks O*NET lists for this occupation, ordered by importance. Each links to its own page with AI-exposure and observed-use detail.
- Monitor contract compliance and results of forestry activities to assure adherence to government regulations. Core · importance 4.0
- Negotiate terms and conditions of agreements and contracts for forest harvesting, forest management and leasing of forest lands. Supplemental · importance 3.8
- Plan and implement projects for conservation of wildlife habitats and soil and water quality. Supplemental · importance 3.8
- Establish short- and long-term plans for management of forest lands and forest resources. Core · importance 3.7
- Plan cutting programs and manage timber sales from harvested areas, assisting companies to achieve production goals. Supplemental · importance 3.7
- Procure timber from private landowners. Supplemental · importance 3.7
- Determine methods of cutting and removing timber with minimum waste and environmental damage. Core · importance 3.7
- Subcontract with loggers or pulpwood cutters for tree removal and to aid in road layout. Supplemental · importance 3.6
- Perform inspections of forests or forest nurseries. Core · importance 3.6
- Map forest area soils and vegetation to estimate the amount of standing timber and future value and growth. Supplemental · importance 3.5
- Monitor forest-cleared lands to ensure that they are reclaimed to their most suitable end use. Supplemental · importance 3.5
- Develop techniques for measuring and identifying trees. Supplemental · importance 3.4
- Supervise activities of other forestry workers. Core · importance 3.4
- Plan and direct forest surveys and related studies and prepare reports and recommendations. Core · importance 3.4
- Provide advice and recommendations, as a consultant on forestry issues, to private woodlot owners, firefighters, government agencies or to companies. Supplemental · importance 3.2
- Direct, and participate in, forest fire suppression. Core · importance 3.1
- Plan and supervise forestry projects, such as determining the type, number and placement of trees to be planted, managing tree nurseries, thinning forest and monitoring growth of new seedlings. Core · importance 3.1
- Choose and prepare sites for new trees, using controlled burning, bulldozers, or herbicides to clear weeds, brush, and logging debris. Core · importance 3.0
- Analyze effect of forest conditions on tree growth rates and tree species prevalence and the yield, duration, seed production, growth viability, and germination of different species. Supplemental · importance 2.9
- Study different tree species' classification, life history, light and soil requirements, adaptation to new environmental conditions and resistance to disease and insects. Supplemental · importance 2.9
- Plan and direct construction and maintenance of recreation facilities, fire towers, trails, roads and bridges, ensuring that they comply with guidelines and regulations set for forested public lands. Supplemental · importance 2.9
- Conduct public educational programs on forest care and conservation. Supplemental · importance 2.8
- Monitor wildlife populations and assess the impacts of forest operations on population and habitats. Supplemental · importance 2.8
- Contact local forest owners and gain permission to take inventory of the type, amount, and location of all standing timber on the property. Supplemental · importance 2.6
- Develop new techniques for wood or residue use. Supplemental · importance 2.2
Work activities
- Assess compliance with environmental laws.
- Develop plans to manage natural or renewable resources.
- Manage agricultural or forestry operations.
- Cultivate land.
- Negotiate sales or lease agreements for products or services.
- Negotiate contracts for environmental remediation, green energy, or renewable resources.
- Determine methods to minimize environmental impact of activities.
- Research crop management methods.
- Monitor environmental impacts of production or development activities.
- Plan natural resources conservation or restoration programs.
- Plan environmental research.
- Direct natural resources management or conservation programs.
- Inspect condition of natural environments.
- Measure environmental characteristics.
- Develop educational programs.
- Purchase materials, equipment, or other resources.
- Negotiate contracts with clients or service providers.
- Hire farming, fishing or forestry workers.
- Obtain written authorization to perform activities.
- Establish interpersonal business relationships to facilitate work activities.
- Coordinate forestry or agricultural activities.
- Advise others about environmental management or conservation.
- Conduct research of processes in natural or industrial ecosystems.
- Develop agricultural methods.
Knowledge, skills & abilities
O*NET importance rating, from 1 (not important) to 5 (extremely important).
Essential skills
| Active Listening | 4.0 | |
| Reading Comprehension | 3.9 | |
| Speaking | 3.9 | |
| Critical Thinking | 3.9 | |
| Writing | 3.8 | |
| Monitoring | 3.8 | |
| Active Learning | 3.1 |
Abilities
| Oral Comprehension | 4.0 | |
| Written Comprehension | 3.9 | |
| Oral Expression | 3.9 | |
| Deductive Reasoning | 3.9 | |
| Inductive Reasoning | 3.9 | |
| Information Ordering | 3.9 | |
| Category Flexibility | 3.9 | |
| Written Expression | 3.8 | |
| Problem Sensitivity | 3.8 | |
| Near Vision | 3.6 | |
| Speech Recognition | 3.6 | |
| Speech Clarity | 3.6 | |
| Flexibility of Closure | 3.4 | |
| Originality | 3.3 | |
| Far Vision | 3.3 |
Knowledge
| Customer and Personal Service | 3.9 | |
| English Language | 3.8 | |
| Administration and Management | 3.8 | |
| Biology | 3.7 | |
| Law and Government | 3.4 | |
| Mathematics | 3.3 | |
| Geography | 3.3 | |
| Public Safety and Security | 3.3 |
Transferable skills
| Complex Problem Solving | 3.9 | |
| Judgment and Decision Making | 3.8 | |
| Systems Analysis | 3.6 | |
| Systems Evaluation | 3.6 | |
| Coordination | 3.5 | |
| Time Management | 3.5 | |
| Social Perceptiveness | 3.3 | |
| Negotiation | 3.3 | |
| Persuasion | 3.1 | |
| Management of Material Resources | 3.1 |
Skills in demand
Skills employers ask for in job postings for this occupation (Lightcast), with whether each is a common or specialized skill.
Tools & technology
Work context
How characteristic each condition is of the job, on O*NET's 1–5 context scale (higher = more present in day-to-day work). Each condition links to how it varies across all occupations.
How to get in
- Job zone
- Zone 4 — Job Zone Four: Considerable Preparation Needed
- Education
- Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.
- Typical entry-level education
- Bachelor's degree · BLS, the typical path — not a requirement
- Related experience
- A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations. For example, an accountant must complete four years of college and work for several years in accounting to be considered qualified.
- Preparation level
- SVP (7.0 to < 8.0) — total schooling plus on-the-job experience.
What to study: Natural Resources and Conservation . Fields of study crosswalked to this occupation (NCES CIP–SOC), not a requirement.
Education of current workers
Share of people in this occupation at each level of education.
| Bachelor's Degree | 84.0% | |
| Associate's Degree (or other 2-year degree) | 13.3% | |
| Post-Secondary Certificate | 1.1% | |
| Some College Courses | 0.8% | |
| Master's Degree | 0.8% |
Interests & work styles
The interests and personal qualities O*NET associates with people who do this work.
Interest areas
| Nature/Outdoors | 6.8 | |
| Agriculture | 4.6 | |
| Management/Administration | 3.3 | |
| Life Science | 3.1 | |
| Transportation/Machine Operation | 2.6 | |
| Construction/Woodwork | 2.5 | |
| Mathematics/Statistics | 2.5 | |
| Physical/Manual Labor | 2.4 |
Career interests (Holland / RIASEC)
| Realistic | 5.3 | |
| Investigative | 4.5 | |
| Conventional | 4.4 | |
| Enterprising | 3.8 | |
| Social | 2.3 |
Work styles
| Dependability | 5.0 | |
| Attention to Detail | 4.0 | |
| Integrity | 3.0 |
Wages & employment
U.S. · annual wages (BLS OEWS)
| 10th percentile | $49,240 |
| 25th percentile | $58,810 |
| Median (50th) | $70,660 |
| 75th percentile | $85,450 |
| 90th percentile | $103,220 |
| People employed | 9,650 |
Industries that employ this occupation
Where these workers are employed, by number of jobs (national, BLS OEWS). Pay shown is the occupation's national median, not industry-specific.
| Industry | Workers | National median pay |
|---|---|---|
| Manufacturing · Sector | 700 | $78,600 |
| Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting · Sector | 630 | $75,560 |
| Utilities · Sector | 570 | $98,740 |
| Educational Services · Sector | 560 | $50,530 |
| Other Services (except Public Administration) · Sector | 370 | $68,070 |
| Management of Companies and Enterprises · Sector | 190 | $83,120 |
| Fossil Fuel Electric Power Generation · National industry | 90 | $88,700 |
| Real Estate and Rental and Leasing · Sector | 60 | $60,250 |
| Hydroelectric Power Generation · National industry | 40 | $101,520 |
| Wholesale Trade · Sector | — | $98,580 |
| Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services · Sector | — | $63,960 |
Where this work is most concentrated
Industries where this occupation is far more common than in the economy as a whole. The location quotient is how many times more concentrated it is here (a value of 5 means five times its economy-wide share).
| Industry | Concentration | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting · Sector | 23.78× | 630 |
| Utilities · Sector | 15.72× | 570 |
| Other Services (except Public Administration) · Sector | 1.34× | 370 |
| Management of Companies and Enterprises · Sector | 1.08× | 190 |
| Manufacturing · Sector | 0.88× | 700 |
| Educational Services · Sector | 0.66× | 560 |
Related occupations
Part of the Advanced Manufacturing , Agriculture and Energy & Natural Resources career clusters.
- Forest and Conservation Technicians · 19-4071.00 Compare →
- Range Managers · 19-1031.02 Compare →
- Conservation Scientists · 19-1031.00 Compare →
- Forest and Conservation Workers · 45-4011.00 Compare →
- Environmental Restoration Planners · 19-2041.02 Compare →
- Environmental Scientists and Specialists, Including Health · 19-2041.00 Compare →
- Soil and Plant Scientists · 19-1013.00 Compare →
- Industrial Ecologists · 19-2041.03 Compare →
- Forest Fire Inspectors and Prevention Specialists · 33-2022.00 Compare →
- Brownfield Redevelopment Specialists and Site Managers · 11-9199.11 Compare →
- First-Line Supervisors of Farming, Fishing, and Forestry Workers · 45-1011.00 Compare →
- Fallers · 45-4021.00 Compare →
Side-by-side comparisons place two occupations’ pay, preparation, skills, and AI exposure on the same page — same data, same scale, no forecast.
What you can do with this
Options the data surfaces for Foresters — not advice or a forecast. Each is a real cross-link you can follow into the evidence.
Skills that travel
Capabilities this work builds that are used across many other occupations.
Adjacent roles
Occupations O*NET rates as related — the nearby moves on the map.
Paths in
How people typically prepare for this work.
- Bachelor's degree · typical entry level
- Job zone 4 — Job Zone Four: Considerable Preparation Needed · preparation tier
- Natural Resources and Conservation · field of study
Zoom out
On the global GenAI exposure gradient this work sits around the 54th percentile of 427 international occupations.
Write a report on thisheadline · factoids · citation
Foresters show 38th-percentile AI task overlap — and about 1,100 annual U.S. openings
- Foresters rank in the 38th percentile (Moderate band) for AI task overlap across U.S. occupations — a measure of how much of the work today's AI can attempt, not how much is automated.Eloundou et al. (GPTs are GPTs) + Felten AIOE
- The occupation is projected to see about 1,100 U.S. job openings per year (2024–34), counting growth and replacement — a labor-demand projection made independently of AI.BLS Employment Projections 2024–34
- BLS projects employment to be about average (+1.2%) from 2024 to 2034.BLS Employment Projections 2024–34
- Median annual pay is $70,660, across about 9,650 U.S. workers.BLS OEWS (May 2024)
Copy the whole kit
Foresters show 38th-percentile AI task overlap — and about 1,100 annual U.S. openings • Foresters rank in the 38th percentile (Moderate band) for AI task overlap across U.S. occupations — a measure of how much of the work today's AI can attempt, not how much is automated. (Eloundou et al. (GPTs are GPTs) + Felten AIOE) • The occupation is projected to see about 1,100 U.S. job openings per year (2024–34), counting growth and replacement — a labor-demand projection made independently of AI. (BLS Employment Projections 2024–34) • BLS projects employment to be about average (+1.2%) from 2024 to 2034. (BLS Employment Projections 2024–34) • Median annual pay is $70,660, across about 9,650 U.S. workers. (BLS OEWS (May 2024)) Source: Singulariki — "Foresters". https://singulariki.com/roles/role-19-1032-00 Note: AI task overlap measures what today's AI can attempt, not automation, job loss, or a forecast.
AssetsShare imageMethodology & sourcesPress & newsroomThe newsroom
Every line is built only from figures this page already shows and cites. AI task overlap means what today's AI can attempt — not automation, job loss, or a forecast.
Sources for this page
Every figure above traces to a named public dataset and the exact release below — not hand-written opinion. See the full methodology for what each measure does and does not mean.
- O*NET 30.3 U.S. Department of Labor / National Center for O*NET Development
- BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
- BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
- Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai Microsoft Research
- “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130 OpenAI / academic
- AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans academic
- ILO / Gmyrek et al. GenAI exposure gradient 2025 International Labour Organization
- IBS O*NET-SOC ↔ ISCO-08 occupation crosswalk 2022 Institute for Structural Research (IBS)
- Frey & Osborne (2013) frey-osborne-automation academic
- Dingel & Neiman (2020) dingel-neiman-workathome academic
Data compiled June 2, 2026. Figures are estimates, not advice.
Cite this page
Plain
Singulariki. "Foresters." Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Built from O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034; Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130; AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans; ILO / Gmyrek et al. GenAI exposure gradient 2025; IBS O*NET-SOC ↔ ISCO-08 occupation crosswalk 2022; Frey & Osborne (2013) frey-osborne-automation; Dingel & Neiman (2020) dingel-neiman-workathome. Accessed June 7, 2026. https://singulariki.com/roles/role-19-1032-00
APA
Singulariki. (2026). Foresters. Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Retrieved June 7, 2026, from https://singulariki.com/roles/role-19-1032-00
BibTeX
@misc{singulariki-role-19-1032-00,
title = {Foresters},
author = {{Singulariki}},
year = {2026},
note = {O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034; Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130; AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans; ILO / Gmyrek et al. GenAI exposure gradient 2025; IBS O*NET-SOC ↔ ISCO-08 occupation crosswalk 2022; Frey & Osborne (2013) frey-osborne-automation; Dingel & Neiman (2020) dingel-neiman-workathome. Accessed June 7, 2026},
url = {https://singulariki.com/roles/role-19-1032-00}
} Citations name the underlying public dataset releases — they reflect what this page is built from, not just the URL.