How to Become a Forest and Wildlife Conservation Worker in Mississippi

If the career of your dreams involves the great outdoors, consider becoming a forest or conservation worker. With this job, you’ll help foresters and conservation scientists monitor, protect and repair forest and wildlife areas. Duties performed by forest workers include digging and planting trees, cutting down damaged or diseased vegetation and collecting environmental data. The job of forest and conservation workers is very hands-on and physically demanding.

Expect to spend long hours in the outdoors, even in extreme weather conditions. You should be able to safely lift heavy objects and walk for long distances to be a successful forest worker. Finding jobs may require relocation, but there is definitely work for forest and conservation workers in Mississippi.

Most of these professionals are employed by state and local government agencies, while some work private contracts. Forest workers might find themselves working in government-owned forest land or helping maximize efficiency at tree nurseries. Other forest and conservation workers prevent and fight wildfires.

Career Track for Forest and Conservation Workers

It’s simple to get started in this field. You only need a high school diploma or GED equivalent to begin work. It helps if you have experience with the outdoors, and some people choose to study in a college forestry program before beginning work. However, you can be hired without a forestry background and be trained completely on the job. Forest workers serve in an entry-level role and, with experience and education, they often eventually become forest technicians, foresters and conservation scientists.

Studying Forestry in Mississippi

Forestry and conservation degrees can range from two years to four years in length, depending on the level you want to reach in your career. Other beneficial programs of study for forest workers include horticulture, urban forestry and natural resource management. Here are two educational options available for forest workers in Mississippi:

• East Mississippi Community College. On this school’s Scooba campus, students can earn a two-year Forestry Technology degree. Graduates are awarded an Associate Degree of Applied Science and are qualified to become forest technicians. The program teaches students how to produce, protect and manage timber and other forest crops.
• Mississippi State University. At this university, students can earn a four-year Bachelor of Science degree in Forestry. The degree can focus on environmental conservation, forest management, urban forestry or forest products. Students can also pursue a bachelor’s degree in Natural Resource & Environmental Conservation. The Natural Resource degree can focus on law and administration, technology or conservation science. Mississippi State’s programs are accredited by the Society of American Foresters (SAF).

Job Details and Pay for Forest Workers

There isn’t much data reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) for forest and conservation workers in Mississippi. To gain a better idea of their job statistics, you can look at those of forest and conservation technicians.

In 2016, 230 forest and conservation technicians were employed in Mississippi, and that number isn’t expected to increase any time soon. This means that finding a forest worker job may often require relocation. Forest workers are generally paid lower than forest technicians, who in 2018 made a median of $23.20 per hour across the state.

Work by Location in Mississippi

To figure out where in Mississippi to find a job as a forest or conservation worker, you can again look at statistics for forest and conservation technicians, who are higher in number. Both the northeast and southeast nonmetropolitan areas of Mississippi employed similar numbers of forest and conservation technicians in 2018. The median technician pay in both areas was strong, at median rates of $23.87 and $23.26 per hour, respectively.

Forest and conservation workers should eventually advance to positions as forest technicians, foresters or conservation scientists, because the demand for basic forest workers is decreasing over time. The best way to climb in your forestry career is by studying in a forestry program while earning work experience.