If you’d prefer a career where you don’t sit at a desk and you love the idea of working surrounded by nature, becoming a forester might be a perfect fit for you. Foresters are tasked with conservation and land management, and not only can they help preserve our forests, but they also get to use some cool tools. At Warren Knight, we sell a few of these items such as a clinometer and forestry compass, so let’s take a look at forestry tools and some of the jobs that might be available if you earn a forestry degree.
Types of Forestry Careers
Forester – This person might work for a national forest or state forest or perhaps work for a timber company. They tend to handle tasks that deal with forestry management, which might include rehabilitation, conservation, surveying tasks and creating plans to lower fire risks.
Forest Ranger – A ranger handles some of the same tasks as a forester, including surveying and conservation and fire prevention or suppression. Rangers often work more closely with the public, working to enforce laws in forests and parkland, but also to educate visitors about conservation efforts, the history of the park and the flora and fauna in the park.
Forestry Teacher – Many foresters are interested in research and education and peruse master’s degrees or doctorates in a forestry-related subject and spend their days teaching. This often includes teaching in the field and training students how to use various forestry tools including a clinometer, GPS, forestry compass and more.
Other Options – If you don’t wish to earn a bachelor’s degree or higher, there are still many forestry-related jobs to consider. Firefighting is certainly one option that is in high demand and forest firefighters typically have completed EMT training as well as working for several years as a firefighter and undergo specialized training to learn all they can about wildland firefighting. Experienced wildland firefighters also sometimes work for companies that handle fire inspection or fire prevention services.
You also could work with a company that handles urban forestry, which often entails removing trees safely or cutting back tree branches. Logging companies also need employees to cut down trees and use various pieces of logging equipment.
Common Forestry Tools
There are many tools that foresters will use, depending on their daily tasks. The following is simply a shortlist of some of the tools that most foresters learn how to use and use often. Some of these also are sometimes used as survey tools.
Forestry Compass – This type of compass works similarly to a surveyor compass and, in addition to foresters, the forestry compass is commonly used by logging engineers and timber cruisers. These lightweight instruments can be carried into the field easily to perform many common forestry tasks. There are two basic types of forestry compasses – a smaller hand compass that fits easily into a pocket and a larger staff compass, which tends to be much more accurate than a hand compass.
Our WK-40-1430 Foresters Compass is a staff compass with a flat base and straight edge and is sold with interchangeable scales on sights that enable slope measurements to plus/minus 30% or plus/minus 60%. This compass includes a ball joint socket, slope measurement scales and a case.
Clinometer – A clinometer (also called an inclinometer) can be used to measure ground slopes but also to help calculate the height of trees. We offer a variety of clinometers for sale, but one also can use an Abney level to calculate tree height and our WK-40-1750 Abney level is a lightweight device with four scales built specifically for use in rugged environments. The four scales make it possible to obtain one or a combination of slope readings including degrees, percent of grade, topographic arc and chainage correction.
Densiometers – Foresters often have to study the density of a forester, and this handheld device can be used to get an estimate of the spaces between trees. This allows a forester to learn if thinning might be necessary in a forester. A dense forest can be more prone to wildfires and when trees are too close together, they can more easily pass diseases or insect infestations.
Global Positioning Systems – Handheld GPS devices are an important tool for foresters, they can help foresters pinpoint their location as they move through a forest as well as to help them draw detailed maps of an area deep in a forest. We sell a variety of GPS devices through our partner company the North American Survey Supply Company at https://www.nasurvey.com/products/.
Increment Borer – This device removes a portion of wood from a tree or even lumber or timber to learn more about the properties of the wood, such as the growth rate or age of the tree. This device is designed to cause minimal injury to the tree.
Soil Probes & Soil Test Kits – Studying soil is one of the tasks many foresters will handle as they study a forest. The soil probe (also sometimes called a soil sampler) will help remove cylinders of soil from the ground and the test kit can be used to study the various properties of the soil, such as the types of minerals present in the soil. Sometimes foresters also will take water samples and test water quality, as well.
If you have any questions about our selection of clinometers, Abney levels, a forestry compass or other forestry and surveying equipment, contact us at any time. The team at Warren Knight has been producing quality precision instruments for more than a century, and if you don’t see quite what you need on the WarrenKnight.com website, we may have the product available through our North American Survey Supply Company.