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Career change to forestry/US Forest Service?

Started by docsuess84, July 07, 2012, 05:48:32 PM

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docsuess84

Hi everybody,
I work as a social worker in Trinity County, a rural county in northern California. I spend lots of time driving around Shasta-Trinity National Forest as well as Six Rivers. It's unbelievably beautiful up here, and I love my job, but I'm entertaining the notion of switching careers. I get really jealous of the Forest Service guys I see driving around up here. I didn't think I liked the outdoors until I started getting out in it, and now I don't like being anywhere else. My favorite part of my day is being out in nature instead of doing actual social work. Who knew? I guess my questions are, what would you suggest as far as exploring what options there are in working for the Forest Service (that's really all I'm interested in. I like public service, and I like it up here.) Would I need to take classes or get a degree? I have a BA in Psychology which I know is totally unrelated but i'm curious if it makes a difference. I'm the sole wage earner in my household so i can't just drop everything and start volunteering or work random part time assignments. I would love to get your feedback, especially if you work for the Forest Service. Am I crazy? Has anybody made such a drastic career switch like that before?

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beenthere

Welcome to the forum.

Head for the Forest supervisors office and discuss this with him/her. They could put you on a short path with possible job openings.
Will help if you are a minority, as I recently heard (unfortunately) that parts of the FS are only at 18% minority, and there is a push to bring that up to 30-35%.  Gonna leave a lot of non-minority standing in line if that is the case. There will be a short line and a scramble to get those numbers up come heck or high water. It'll be in the rating of each supervisor to make the numbers work.
south central Wisconsin
It may be that my sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others

docsuess84

Afraid the minority thing won't help me. I'm about as white as I can get.

clww

Since you enjoy public service, and if you're still relatively young, why not join the military? You could earn a forestry degree while serving, and they pay for 95% of it. Plus, they take nearly everyone.
Many Stihl Saws-16"-60"
"Go Ask The Other Master Chief"
18-Wheeler Driver

Ron Wenrich

You might want to check out the Park Service.  You get to work outdoors without all the necessary science courses involved with growing trees and harvesting.  The psych degree may even be helpful.  You may only need a few courses to make park & rec a minor.
Never under estimate the power of stupid people in large groups.

KBforester

Quote from: beenthere on July 07, 2012, 06:31:35 PM
Welcome to the forum.

Head for the Forest supervisors office and discuss this with him/her. They could put you on a short path with possible job openings.
Will help if you are a minority, as I recently heard (unfortunately) that parts of the FS are only at 18% minority, and there is a push to bring that up to 30-35%.  Gonna leave a lot of non-minority standing in line if that is the case. There will be a short line and a scramble to get those numbers up come heck or high water. It'll be in the rating of each supervisor to make the numbers work.


Yup. Been there, Tried that. Didn't work out. If your interested in changing a career, without education, it is a slow path. When I worked for the Feds out west I worked with plenty of people that had no forestry experience, but most of them are seasonal, temporary positions. If you stick to those for a number of years, things start to open up for you once your GS level gets higher. But it takes a long time.

I worked in your neck of the woods during college. Pretty place, way to dry for me. I think I would be very professionally unfulfilled working for the FS. Extremely inefficient and frustrating. 
Trees are good.

Ron Scott

Check with the USFS. They have been known to hire sociologists. A social science degree with a forestry degree go well together these days. They might even have some contract work there for you. Stop in and visit with the supervisors of the Shasta-T and Six Rivers.
~Ron

Rocky_Ranger

You got to start somewhere; if it is a dream of yours to work "outside" and make a good living then college is the way to go.  Military for four years would be more of a sure bet, but I'd do the college thing and keep knocking on doors.  Of course, now knocking on doors is USA Jobs and e-recruit (AVUE is going away at the end of September).  Get into "Pathways" and go to college as the old SCEP, or the new "recent graduate", or "PMF" (with a Masters), and you have a job at graduation.  However, as you climb, your experience outdoors will dwindle - now if I get a day outside every two weeks I'm lucky.  To heck with sociology - get a dirt forester degree and enjoy every minute of it! And yes, I am a Forest Supervisor. 8)
RETIRED!

Pullinchips

Its hard to get a job in the USFS. And from what i have seen in school mates and buddies that work for them if you want to climb your gonna have to move.

Sorry but your degree is almost worthless in forestry.  The jobs are written for forestry based education and as bad as the economy is you see plenty of 4 yr degree guys in forestry working GS 5/7 jobs which are technition jobs requiring little to no forestry education. These historically were no degree jobs or 2yr degree jobs.

This said i do not work for the USFS or never had, although i been in Fed system college. I could not make short lists after graduation for GS 4 or 5 jobs the competition is so heavy. I also graduated #2 in my forestry class and with honors and a 3.65 GPA so its not like it was acedemics that were lacking. Also had a bit of forestry experience.  But from my experience the ones who got the good "forester " jobs with USFS were in thier intern or whatever prorams. They started in Highschool on trial maintence and had summer jobs through college with them and had gaureteed jobs after school. They tended to had pick thier forester years before they even qualify.

I am a federal forester but i just look from the outside at the USFS though.

Back to you.. the forestry out look is not good i think and the industry is sagging bad due to economy right now. Also its nice to be outside and i always said what you do, but like a professor told me when i said i want to be outside when i get a job, he said "no what you mean is you want to be outside when you want to butin the office when its hot or cold". 9-10 years latter his statement could not be more true.
Resident Forester
US Army Corps of Engineers: Savannah District

Clemson Forestry Grad 2004
MFR Clemson University 2006
Stihl MS 390

Rocky_Ranger

Quote from: Pullinchips on July 28, 2012, 05:01:55 PM
Its hard to get a job in the USFS. And from what i have seen in school mates and buddies that work for them if you want to climb your gonna have to move.

Sorry but your degree is almost worthless in forestry.  The jobs are written for forestry based education and as bad as the economy is you see plenty of 4 yr degree guys in forestry working GS 5/7 jobs which are technition jobs requiring little to no forestry education. These historically were no degree jobs or 2yr degree jobs.

I reckon it depends on which school you got your degree; mine has helped be from the day I got it.  Yes, I started as a GS 03 (below latrine orderly), logged, ran a farm, businesses, and still got back in to the USFS.  Moved all over the country (and still moving), but would never tell anyone they can't get a job with the USFS.  It's no harder now than in was in the late 70's, or early 2000's.  You gonna start low on the Totem pole, and your gonna have to move. 

We have a deficit of young professionals in the Agency and have had for a number of years - the jobs are there, it just takes time to connect.
RETIRED!

kderby

I would go look at the Park Service.  Smaller agency with a tighter knit fabric.  Good appreciation for education and superb locations. Your degree has opportunity in interpretation and other angles.  Nominal pay but a rewarding lifestyle if it fits you.

I am White Anglo-Saxon Protestant (WASP) and male.  That did mess with my career efforts with USFS.  The plum opportunities went to female/minorities.  Some were legitimate candidates.  Some were just quota fillers.  None of them lasted in a USFS career.  I undersood that process and chose not to let it anger me.  It certainly did change the course of my USFS career. 

I ended up with National Park Service after a lot of other experiences.  I enjoyed it but....it is still Government.  I am just too entrepeneurial.  I quit the NPS and bought a sawmill.  No kids and my wife is well employed.  I had some choice.  I chose to do this.

Good luck on your journey! 

 

Pullinchips

I agree there is a defficite (spelling) of young foresters in the federal system. I work with one who is 37, we have another who is early 40s, but other than those most are old enough to be my dad.

Its hard though to get your foot in the door when there is a federal highering freeze, at least in the Army.

Other thing maybe they do like certain colleges better (folks usually higher from their school). But that said there are 2 national forests in my state, one across the state line in GA and one in NC. But in SC i know there are at least 5 ranger districts as well as SRS that is forest service run.

Again i have never worked for them and could not make lists when i graduated in 04 even with my eduacation, thats why i worked for a year and went to grad school to try and seperate myself from others.

Thats a good ideea, to the OP you should go to Forestry Grad school, Get a technical forestry degree. You have all the core classes probly, well i dunno with a socal degree your probly lacking some sciences?? But you will take the important forestry classes like mensuration, dendro, etc then you will take advance level clases and in the end will qualify as a forester but also have a Masters degree.

Anyway back to what i was saying, i dont know a single person that got a USFS job from my college that was not connected to them from either first year of college or HS.

I hate to not encourage someone, but there are plenty of foresters right now that are under employed, that are putting in on federal jobs right now. Many dont like to higher someone like this though as they are set in their ways, they like to higher fresh so they can mold them. I was in the right place in the right time and was brought on in this way to replace a guy that was my fathers age.  The reason i got the job and not the next guy... my masters degree, they said all other things were basically equal.


One contractor i work for who has run a successful herbicide ROW spraying company as well as consulting biz for 10-15 years said he is putting in for fed jobs. He says the pay for the most part would work out the same and he would work far fewer hours.  He said his work is mainly in the summer in spraying season and then burning season, so he makes bank then but other times of the year it can be slim, esp in the last 3 years or so. He said the pay check would be steady at a fed job and he could spend more time with his kids as well that way.  I know he is not the only one like this. But i say this so that the OP knows that just cause your qualified and willing does not gaurantee a job these days.  He may have to start out with a survey crew marking lines, may have to work for a tree service as a ROW forester.  Jobs are tough these days is my point is all.
Resident Forester
US Army Corps of Engineers: Savannah District

Clemson Forestry Grad 2004
MFR Clemson University 2006
Stihl MS 390

beenthere

pullinchips
I am amazed at your spelling ability.
south central Wisconsin
It may be that my sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others

Pullinchips

Thanks!  :D 

I never got more than a C in english, maybe a B in there somewhere!  I hate proofreading and have not figured out where the spell check here is. So sorry for the mis-spellings.  I dont look over what i write and my brain is faster than my fingers, therefore i look like a high school grad when posting.  Thank goodness for spell check in email and Word!
Resident Forester
US Army Corps of Engineers: Savannah District

Clemson Forestry Grad 2004
MFR Clemson University 2006
Stihl MS 390

beenthere

I hear ya, but maybe copying your "writing" over to Word for the spell check.
Seems it would be to your benefit as you are posing as a graduate of Clemson as well as earning a Masters.
Hopefully taken as a constructive suggestion to your "professional" ambitions.
south central Wisconsin
It may be that my sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others

Pullinchips

I should do that, fact is i think im to lazy to ever do that. Maybe i will just take my School out of my sig??

Got an A in Dendro class. Rarely missed an ID or Genus or Species name, EXCEPT for spelling which got us -1 per mis-spelling. Needless to say an A was difficult with my spelling ability. I still managed though but was "complimented" by my professor for my phonetic (spelling here?) ability, he could always fiqure out what i meant!

Not saying im the bightest but we cant be perfect in everything i guess, which im perfect in nothing!
Resident Forester
US Army Corps of Engineers: Savannah District

Clemson Forestry Grad 2004
MFR Clemson University 2006
Stihl MS 390

BaldBob

I don't know that a spell checker will help all that much since using words that are spelled correctly but used incorrectly (e.g. higher vs. hire, to vs. too, their vs. there,etc.) are not caught by spell checkers.

beenthere

BaldBob
Word picked up 35 of the errors, just FYI.  And true, the few you mentioned were not picked up.

Only trying to help the young lad.
south central Wisconsin
It may be that my sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others

Texas Ranger

We  have had the spelling debate, in several places, before this particular one, so, with that in mind, we write as we speak, if you can read it, so be it.

Now, that being said, other areas need to be spot on, job applications for example, or résumé's (see, there is one right there, had to look it up).   8)

Being a little Dyslexic, and getting worse as I get older, typing is neat, and word checkers are swell, except for the notes above.  smiley_speechless
The Ranger, home of Texas Forestry

Rocky_Ranger

I too, have a hard time spelling - sometimes even the simpler words, but ya gotta do better than your best sometimes.  I chuckle reading some of the posts on here, not that mine are any better, just seems we foresters are not gifted with the English language.  What's bad for me is when spell check comes back and has "no suggestions"........ :D
RETIRED!

Pullinchips

Yep, i hate having to re-misspell a word so that it can recognize the word im trying to misspell!  ;D
Resident Forester
US Army Corps of Engineers: Savannah District

Clemson Forestry Grad 2004
MFR Clemson University 2006
Stihl MS 390

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