Forest and Conservation Workers

Moderate Risk
Low High

Explore safer careers (5)

Lower estimated automation risk

Forest Fire Inspectors and Prevention Specialists
17% automation risk | Minimal Risk
Pays better Higher growth
28.7 pts lower View career
Why it fits

Uses terrain knowledge, forest conditions, hazard recognition, patrol habits, public contact, and prevention work.

Foresters
21% automation risk | Low Risk
Pays better Higher growth
25.4 pts lower View career
Why it fits

Plausible for experienced workers who add forestry education in land management, timber, conservation, and planning.

First-Line Supervisors of Farming, Fishing, and Forestry Workers
25% automation risk | Low Risk
Pays better Higher growth
21.1 pts lower View career
Why it fits

Advancement path using forestry crew coordination, safety, equipment, work planning, and productivity records.

Forest and Conservation Technicians
28% automation risk | Low Risk
Pays better More jobs
17.8 pts lower View career
Why it fits

Uses forestry fieldwork, habitat observation, pest control, mapping, sampling, equipment, and crew support.

Environmental Science and Protection Technicians, Including Health
24% automation risk | Low Risk
Pays better Higher growth
22.4 pts lower View career
Why it fits

Uses field sampling, site observations, environmental records, safety practice, and compliance support with training.

Compare this job with others
or search for another job
Share your results with friends and family.

Occupation snapshot

What does this snowflake show?
The Snowflake is a visual summary of the five badges: Automation Risk (calculated), Risk (polled), Growth, Wages and Volume. It gives you an instant snapshot of an occupations profile. The colour of the Snowflake relates to its size. The better the occupation scores in relation to others, the larger and greener the Snowflake becomes.
JOB SCORE
3.6/10
What's this?
Job Score (higher is better):

We rate jobs using four factors. These are:

- Chance of being automated
- Job growth
- Wages
- Volume of available positions

These are some key things to think about when job hunting.

Risk & user votes

Calculated automation risk

46% (Moderate Risk)

Moderate Risk (41-60%): This occupation may be meaningfully affected by automation. Some parts of the role may be suitable for AI, software, or robotics, while others still rely on human skill, judgement, trust, or real-world context. People in this range may benefit from building skills that complement automation and reduce replacement risk.

More information on what this score is, and how it is calculated is available here.

Human strengths important in this job

These are human abilities and work contexts that are important in this occupation. They may help explain why parts of the role are harder to replace end-to-end, but they are not the only inputs into the automation score.

Working directly with the public

Quite important
Why this matters
The job involves face-to-face interaction with customers, clients, or guests—answering questions, handling requests, and managing service situations in real time. Roles with frequent public interaction are harder to replace end-to-end because they rely on trust, communication, and adapting to unpredictable human needs.
Jobs that also use this strength

Thinking creatively

Quite important
Why this matters
Coming up with original ideas and designs—creating new concepts, products, systems, or artistic work. This kind of open-ended invention and taste-based judgment is harder to automate end-to-end than routine, rule-based tasks.
Jobs that also use this strength

Decision-making and problem solving

Quite important
Why this matters
Analyze information, weigh tradeoffs, and choose the best solution—especially when situations are ambiguous, high-stakes, or have real-world consequences.
Jobs that also use this strength

Coordinating others’ work

Quite important
Why this matters
Bringing people together, assigning tasks, and keeping a group aligned so work gets done.
Jobs that also use this strength

Developing objectives and strategies

Quite important
Why this matters
Sets long-term goals and chooses strategies and actions to reach them, weighing tradeoffs and adapting plans as conditions change.
Jobs that also use this strength

What users think

Based on 33 votes

33% chance of full automation within the next two decades

Our visitors have voted there's a low chance this occupation will be automated. This assessment is further supported by the calculated automation risk level, which estimates 46% chance of automation.

What do you think the risk of automation is?

What is the likelihood that Forest and Conservation Workers will be replaced by robots or artificial intelligence within the next 20 years?

View sentiment trend

Pay & outlook

Wages

Very low paid relative to other professions

In 2024, the median annual wage for Forest and Conservation Workers was $43,680 ($21 per hour).

The median annual wage for Forest and Conservation Workers was 11.8% lower than the national median annual wage, which stood at $49,500.

View wage trend

Wages over time

* Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics

Growth

Very slow growth relative to other professions.

The number of 'Forest and Conservation Workers' job openings is expected to decline 4.7% by 2034

View employment trend

Total employment, and estimated job openings

* Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics for the period between 2023 and 2033
Updated projections are due 09-2025.

Volume

Significantly lower range of job opportunities compared to other professions

As of 2024 there were 5,630 people employed as 'Forest and Conservation Workers' within the United States.

This represents around < 0.001% of the employed workforce across the country

Put another way, around 1 in 27 thousand people are employed as 'Forest and Conservation Workers'.

People also viewed

Lawyers Computer Programmers Actors Mechanical Engineers Accountants and Auditors

What people are saying (1)

vaskoav (No chance)
02 Feb 2020 02:39
Constant change of the environment variables is the main reason. More and more workloads get automated daily (fortunately), but 20 years is not enough, by far. There's simply not enough time to program all needed algorithms, not even close. This is especially applicable in less developed countries.
Leave a reply about this occupation
0/8000

Job description

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.

O*NET-SOC code: 45-4011.00