Assistant Forestry Technician
Resource Development Restoration
As an assistant forest technician you will be involved in operational and specialized field work supporting foresters and forest technicians in their broad areas of practice including silviculture, forest protection, forest operations and forest measurements.
Entry-level
Experience Level
Year Round
Seasonality
Moderate
Physical Demands
Workers like this work because of its active, outdoor lifestyle. There is satisfaction in gathering data in the field to support important and increasingly complex decisions on how we manage our forest landscapes and ecosystems. Increasingly, sophisticated instruments and methods are used to gather and analyze this data satisfying many workers' enthusiasm for high technology. Workers like the independence of the work as well as the opportunity to collaborate as part of a team. The problems faced in forestry, particularly in the face of climate change, are complex. But solutions can often be achieved by planning and implementing tangible activities on the ground giving workers a feeling of agency and accomplishment
A DAY IN THE LIFE
Much of an assistant forester's day will be spent in motion; traveling distances on resource roads by truck—a safety skill set in itself involving driving safely against oncoming resource truck traffic, using radios, and managing variable road conditions—often then followed by more distance using ATVs or side-by-sides which may then still leave you breaking trail to the worksite. Sometimes helicopters deliver you to the site. Sometimes snowmobiles. On site you will stay on your feet traversing and marking boundaries, ground truthing GPS mapping, cruising timber, laying out regeneration plots and other exercises in forestry measuring and marking: all with attention to detail and precision so you can reliably enter it or compare it to the digital data you loaded into your tablet and other instruments back in the office or camp or motel at the beginning of the day. This is all in the context of rough terrain with all kinds of weather accompanied by whatever forms of insects may be in season mindful that wildlife may be in the area too. But these distractions are offset by you being out on the land with your instructions and purpose and your growing confidence in your ability to solve the inevitable differences between the maps and the terrain and your realization this land with its air, smells, sounds and presence has to be one of the best workplaces an assistant could find themself in. After a good day you carry that back with you on the walk, ride and drive home.
WORKING CONDITIONS
In the field you will likely be exposed to rough terrain, insects, wildlife, all weather conditions, and the exertions of the physical work. Office work, well, will be office work.
CYCLICAL NATURE OF ROLE
Much of forestry work is seasonal although there are year round possibilities depending on locations and activities.
REQUIRED EDUCATION & TRAINING
As an assistant you will be instructed and trained on the job.
It will be an advantage if you are a student enrolled in forestry studies.
IT will be an advantage if you have experience working in the woods.
REQUIRED SOFT SKILLS
Have good verbal and written communications. Able to work independently and collaborate on a team. Can think critically, solve problems, attend to details. Be self-motivated and curious. Willing to travel, work extended shifts, stay in camps. Have experience and appreciation with the outdoors. Background in the forest sector or field work would be an asset.
REQUIRED HARD SKILLS
A Class 5 Drivers license is preferred.
ON THE JOB LEARNING
Using maps and compasses to navigate the woods
Skills necessary for GPS traversing, timber cruising, Forest Health and Ecological Data Collection, Reconnaissance, Road and Block Layout, and related field duties.
Using notes and technology to obtain and record field data
Operate safely and maintain motorized equipment including possibly light trucks, ATVs, UTVs, and snowmobiles
FUTURE CAREER OPPORTUNITIES
As a Forest Assistant you will have opportunities to advance in many directions in forestry including becoming a forest technician or going on to further studies including forestry degrees and professional certifications. There will be other occupational areas available to you as well including reforestation, prescribed burning, wildfire suppression, wildfire fuels management, and timber harvesting.