What Does a Forest Manager Do?
As long as a forest is expected to produce timber, shelter wildlife and host research or recreation, it needs a plan for what gets cut, planted or left alone. Forest managers write that plan for university, state or private forest land, then run the timber sales, crews, roads and fire work that carry it out.
Also known as: Forest Resources Manager, Assistant Forest Resources Manager
Other Job Titles for This Work
Workers in this occupation report titles such as Area Forester, District Forester, Fire Prevention Forester, Forest Practices Field Coordinator, Forester, Procurement Forester, Service Forester, Silviculturist.
Forest Manager Duties and Responsibilities
The primary responsibilities of a forest manager include:
- Write and update the forest management plan, including harvest, planting and conservation goals.
- Plan and mark timber sales, then supervise logging contractors to protect soils and streams.
- Direct forest inventory crews and review cruise data on volume, growth and health.
- Prescribe thinning, planting and prescribed burns, and secure the permits each one needs.
- Maintain forest roads, gates, culverts and boundary lines with staff or contractors.
- Coordinate research plots and field access for faculty, students and visiting scientists.
- Prepare wildfire plans and lead or support initial response with local fire agencies.
- Manage the forest budget, timber revenue and equipment, and report results to leadership.
- Monitor insects, disease and invasive plants, and plan treatment when outbreaks start.
- Supervise forestry technicians, seasonal crews and student workers in the field.
Required Skills and Qualifications
To succeed as a forest manager, you will need the following skills and qualifications:
- Silviculture and timber harvest planning
- GIS mapping with ArcGIS or QGIS
- Forest inventory and cruising methods
- State forester license or registration, where required
- SAF Certified Forester credential, valued by many employers
- Prescribed fire training and a wildland fire red card
- Contract and budget management
- Supervising crews safely in rough terrain
Education and Training
A bachelor's degree in forestry is the standard entry point, and BLS lists a bachelor's as typical for foresters. To become a licensed or registered forester, in some states you will need an accredited forestry degree and supervised experience to qualify. Most forest managers spend years as foresters first, marking timber and running inventory crews. Summer field jobs during college help.
Salary and Job Outlook
Typical pay: $62,710 - $91,640 per year, with a median of $76,400.
The range covers the middle half of earners nationwide. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, Foresters.
BLS projects employment of foresters to grow about 2 percent from 2025 to 2035, with roughly 900 openings a year. That is a small field, and manager posts are a narrower slice of it, so openings often go to foresters the employer already knows.
Outlook source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections, 2025 to 2035, Foresters.
Forest Manager Pay Range
| Earners | Annual pay |
|---|---|
| Bottom 10% earn less than | $50,790 |
| Bottom 25% earn less than | $62,710 |
| Median (half earn more, half less) | $76,400 |
| Top 25% earn more than | $91,640 |
| Top 10% earn more than | $109,700 |
Highest-Paying States for Forest Managers
The states with the highest median pay for this occupation are California ($107,120), Massachusetts ($89,650), Alaska ($87,210), South Carolina ($86,780), Maryland ($86,100). Pay is lowest in Kentucky ($56,460), Nevada ($51,070), Oklahoma ($50,990).
Median pay in all 44 states with BLS data
| State | Median annual pay |
|---|---|
| Alabama | $79,530 |
| Alaska | $87,210 |
| Arizona | $67,200 |
| Arkansas | $69,240 |
| California | $107,120 |
| Colorado | $76,400 |
| Connecticut | $84,820 |
| District of Columbia | $74,710 |
| Florida | $64,130 |
| Georgia | $76,970 |
| Idaho | $65,170 |
| Illinois | $82,160 |
| Indiana | $61,110 |
| Iowa | $83,000 |
| Kansas | $67,540 |
| Kentucky | $56,460 |
| Maine | $66,480 |
| Maryland | $86,100 |
| Massachusetts | $89,650 |
| Michigan | $75,920 |
| Minnesota | $76,490 |
| Mississippi | $71,280 |
| Missouri | $63,220 |
| Montana | $67,200 |
| Nevada | $51,070 |
| New Hampshire | $65,170 |
| New Mexico | $69,240 |
| New York | $73,710 |
| North Carolina | $77,870 |
| Ohio | $73,320 |
| Oklahoma | $50,990 |
| Oregon | $81,450 |
| Pennsylvania | $78,280 |
| South Carolina | $86,780 |
| South Dakota | $64,460 |
| Tennessee | $71,990 |
| Texas | $80,370 |
| Utah | $75,210 |
| Vermont | $80,750 |
| Virginia | $71,990 |
| Washington | $78,460 |
| West Virginia | $62,550 |
| Wisconsin | $66,010 |
| Wyoming | $68,180 |
What the Work Is Like
O*NET surveys people who work as foresters about their daily conditions. Of those surveyed:
- 82% are on the phone every day
- 82% use email every day
- 65% say being exact and accurate is very or extremely important
- 65% have a lot of freedom to make decisions
- 58% say teamwork is very or extremely important in their job
- 37% work outdoors in all kinds of weather every day
Education Workers Say the Job Needs
| Education level | Share of workers |
|---|---|
| Bachelor's degree | 84% |
| Associate's degree | 13% |
Tools and Software Forest Managers Use
Tools and equipment
Software
Is This Job a Good Fit for You?
People who do well in this job tend to enjoy hands-on work with tools, machines or the outdoors as well as analyzing problems and working with ideas.
Skills O*NET rates most important: Active Listening, Reading Comprehension, Speaking, Critical Thinking, Complex Problem Solving, Writing.
Knowledge areas used most: Customer and Personal Service, English Language, Administration and Management, Biology, Law and Government.
Preparation: O*NET places this occupation in Job Zone 4 of 5, which means considerable preparation.
Related Careers
These jobs use similar skills, according to O*NET's related-occupation data:
Applying for a Forest Manager Job
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Sources
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections, 2025 to 2035.
- O*NET 30.1 Database, occupation 19-1032.00 (Foresters). View on O*NET OnLine.
This page includes information from the O*NET 30.1 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. The Job Explorer has modified some of the information; USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed or tested these changes.