How to Become a Forest and Wildlife Conservation Worker in Alaska

If you love spending time in nature, have a good work ethic and enjoy physical work, a job as a forest and conservation worker might be right for you. Foresters or forest and conservation technicians will oversee your work as you maintain the health of the forest through reforestation and maintenance. This maintenance could include clearing undergrowth, checking for and removing diseased plants and controlling pests. There will also be research-related tasks, such as counting and measuring trees to track the growth of the forest.

Workers with a background in fire protection may be called on to help control wildfires. They could be tasked with preventive work, such as helping with controlled burns, emergency response or gathering statistical data from extinguished fires.

Requirements for Forest and Conservation Workers

To become a forest and conservation worker, all you need is a high school diploma or equivalent. Your career training will primarily be done on the job. Post-secondary education is, however, helpful in keeping you at the top of the hiring pool, and it gives you a head start if you want to advance in the forestry industry.

Related Educational Programs

Because options for face-to-face education in Alaska are fairly limited, it’s worth looking online for workshops or programs in environmental studies or horticulture to help you along.

• University of Alaska Fairbanks. University of Alaska Fairbanks’s certificate in environmental studies is a 30- to 35-credit program. It has a large variety of science and elective courses to choose from, so students can focus on an area of particular interest or take courses relevant to a specific type of forestry work. Tuition for Alaska residents is currently $212.00 per credit. You will also need to factor in fees, books and other materials.

Career Outlook and Salary Expectations

The number of forest and conservation jobs in Alaska is expected to stay stable between now and 2026, with an estimated 10 job openings annually for forest and conservation workers and 50 for forest and conservation technicians.

Because of the small number of forest and conservation workers in the state, salary data is not available. Forest and conservation technician jobs, however, are more numerous, and half of the people in those positions earned at least $22.04 hourly in 2018. In the same year, half of salaried technicians made $45,850.00 or more.

Forest and Conservation Work in Alaska

Alaska’s private forestry companies may be the best places to look for jobs as a forest and conservation worker, but you can also look to the state government. Some likely departments would be the Department of Fish and Game, Department of Natural Resources and Department of Environmental Conservation.

Wherever you find work, your endurance will be tested in this physically demanding industry. Forest and conservation workers take their equipment out in good weather and bad, hiking through dense forest. The rugged terrain in Alaska adds a greater challenge. However, as much effort as the job requires, nothing can compare with experiencing Alaska’s wilderness and knowing that you are creating a better future for the forest.