Natural Resources Science at the Forest Service

At the U.S. Forest Service, our number one objective is to restore, sustain, and enhance the nation’s forests and grasslands.  In order to accomplish this goal, we rely upon thousands of natural resources and biological scientists and technicians.  They range from botanists, entomologists, soil conservationists, and fish and wildlife biologists to the forestry and biological science technicians who support them.

Forestry

The most common occupations at the Forest Service are a variety of forester and forestry technician positions that are concerned with the development, production, conservation, and use of natural resources associated with forests and associated lands.

Forest Service projects include natural resources stewardship, protection and enhancement of wildlife and fish habitat; soil and water protection; and vegetation management including hazardous fuels reduction on private lands.

Biological Sciences

Natural resources and biological scientists and technicians at the Forest Service may study the effects of forest management on fish habitat populations, and recommend preventive or mitigative actions for watershed management.  They may provide advice and develop plans related to the protection and management of aquatic resources including studying fish passages, taking stream inventories, monitoring endangered or sensitive species, and working towards habitat rehabilitation.

Forest Products

Some natural resources and biological scientists and technicians work in the field of forest product utilization as a member of an integrated team of researchers from different disciplines who are striving to obtain value-added products from wood.  There is a strong community focus in this area, especially in the wildland/urban interface areas.  For example, individuals in these positions may work on uses for the many small-diameter trees that the Forest Service thins out as part of a wildfire prevention program.  Scientists may work on ways to use wood resources to benefit the economy and employment opportunities in rural communities near the National Forests.

Fuels Management

Other such positions may focus on fuels management by addressing the brush, vegetation, and forest growth that can fuel wildfires.  These scientists may work alone or as a member of an interdisciplinary team of wildlife biologists, silviculturalists, engineers, wildland architects, and fire management officers.  They may plan strategies and implement treatments to reduce hazardous buildups of fuels with techniques such as thinning, shrub treatments, gravel piling, and prescribed burns.  These techniques take into account the effects such treatments may have on wildlife habitat, watersheds, forage and coverage, and ingress and egress for emergency vehicles, amongst other factors.

These are just a few of the types of natural resources and biological science projects undertaken on a regular basis at the Forest  Service.  For more information about other opportunities to protect our natural resource heritage, go to FIND JOBS.