Forestry in alaska (camps, land, retirement)

[TheKezarWoodsman]

Originally Posted by arctichomesteader

The USFS hires on the Tongass and Chugach. Some are timber positions but most aren't. Most available jobs are temporary summer jobs. Most permanent employees worked seasonally for a while. They usually offer housing at very cheap rates for the temp workers in bunkhouses which helps with the cost of living but you still have to pay to get there and then go home after the season. Alaska is pretty high on many people's desired places to work/live so they are very competitive. I'll tell you a little secret if you want to get anywhere with a forest service or federal natural resource field job in general: find the most undesirable, middle of nowhere place no one really wants to live and apply for jobs there. Use those to get the resume built up to get a job where you want one. You'll still get 100 non-hired results for every job offer but you won't get anywhere as an inexperienced applicant trying to get a first job in SE Alaska with the USFS or Yellowstone National Park with the NPS but you might in Blackduck, MN or similar locales few people are interested in.


Obviously the NPS and BLM hire as well in AK. Forget about BIA jobs if you aren't native. Forget the private sector there for forestry.


It is rather curious that a state with so much spruce timber available in its backyard imports most of its construction materials. Alaska's economy really hasn't gotten too well developed beyond the raw resource extraction stage.

I already new the later, most likely i plan to start anywhere i can (besides the south west or extreme south east as heat gets to me), My high spots are Maine, Montana, with Alaska taking the lead as stated. But personally MN would work, so would butt-**** north dokata, i would be willing to go as far as Tennessee to build a Resume. i probally should reiterate my original question to include the fact that the supposed person asking was prepared, and planned to work horrible jobs for the first 5-10 years, then wanted to apply up in Alaska.

[TheKezarWoodsman]

And to summerize (correct if wrong)

Private forestry is dying if not already dead, check back in a few decades
National Forest and Park Service hires, but its competive (i.e. bad chances for even a seasoned vet. of the field)
Forget about BIA, (assuming due to Alaska's high native population, where i am its mostly whites working those jobs)
You need to make atleast 50k to be comfortable, 40k you would survive, but barely

[Arktikos]

Originally Posted by TheKezarWoodsman

And to summerize (correct if wrong)

Private forestry is dying if not already dead, check back in a few decades
National Forest and Park Service hires, but its competive (i.e. bad chances for even a seasoned vet. of the field)
Forget about BIA, (assuming due to Alaska's high native population, where i am its mostly whites working those jobs)
You need to make atleast 50k to be comfortable, 40k you would survive, but barely

Do you have a degree in forestry? Here's a link to a job closing tomorrow, to give you some idea.

https://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewD...nnelID=RESTAPI

There is a private company called Icy Straits lumber, located here in SE AK (Hoonah), that is still in business, and native corporations are still harvesting timber.

[Dakster]

Continue to look and apply for all jobs you are willing to do. You still haven't answered what your skill set is? Degrees? Previous experience? Do you have a college degree? If so, in what?

It is possible that the mass exodus here will happen, in which case, you want to be on the list to get called. I'm going with a 50-50 chance that will happen. I wouldn't say don't put in for native jobs either. You have a higher chance of not getting them, but you never know. My wife put it for a dozen jobs and a few interviews before landing a job up here. It takes persistence.

When you are job hunting and find your perfect, awesome job. Look at the requirements, especially previous experience part and strive towards getting them. It's what I would do if I wanted a job in Forestry.

[akck]

FYI, a Forestry degree was becoming a dead end career when I was going in the 70's. I think in the 80's they were actively discouraging students from the field. In the late 90's or early 2000's, they changed the name from School of Forestry to School of Environmental Science.

As you may have guessed, I have a Forestry degree (Forest Engineering), and I had about 12 years experience working in the industry. After 9 years, I knew the direction Forestry was heading and went back to school for a MBA degree. Your only saving grace is that the Baby Boom generation is retiring and more positions may be opening up with the retirements. Your only problem is that the industry continues to shrink. One way to go is to apply for fire fighting positions. If you get on a crew, you'll have contacts with permanent staff who may have insights on your best path to take.

Good luck, but I'd be one to discourage this career choice. In any case, do have a backup plan.

[jabogitlu]

If your interest is more broadly in environmental sciences, there are random jobs here or there in Alaska, with organizations like Cook Inletkeeper, Alaska Center for the Environment, others, and a patchwork of smaller advocacy orgs (watershed advocates, salmon advocates, etc.). Just a consideration.

[1984]

The Chugach National Forest doesn't have a timber program. They don't hire timber positions.

[GnomadAK]

On the subject of the environmental groups in AK-they sued the timber cutting and sawmill in PWS, and I remember the reason given was that they didn't want people to get dependent on a paycheck.

Oh the horror of working for a living!

[Music_Man]

And they stopped the cutting of all the beetle killed spruce.

[ffaemily]

You probably won't get a job in the enviromental field if you are not a resident. It's a really hard field to get into, and is extremely competitive. Forestry is dead, it's dead pretty much everywhere unless you want to go to go out of the country. The US forestry department does however offer internships for young grads in the forestry field. I don't know how competitive it is, but I think if you are serious about forestry you could check that out.