What Opportunities Are Offered
Opportunities for employment for foresters may be classed as fairly good. The point has now been passed where the supply is totally inadequate to meet the demand, but at the same time the war has greatly depleted the ranks of foresters throughout the country, and there is no question that many new men will be needed during the process of reconstruction and afterwards. The National Forests already offer opportunities for the employment of many men and it can not be doubted that similar opportunities will soon be offered in State forests as well as in the case of forests still in the hands of private owners. With the steady decrease in the timber supply, the Nation will soon be face to face with the necessity of practicing forestry extensively as a national safeguard and unless private owners take upon themselves the task, there is little question but that the Federal and State Governments will take matters largely into their own hands.
Altogether it is a safe prediction that any one who desires to engage in forestry and who qualifies himself for the work will be able to find employment. The entering salary for forest guards in the national service averages about $900 a year and for forest rangers about $1,100 a year. Technically trained foresters ordinarily enter at approximately the same salary as forest rangers, $1,100 or $1,200 a year, but with greater opportunities for advancement later. In State and private work approximately the same entering salaries may be expected although some private owners may be unwilling to pay quite so much to forest guards and forest rangers at the start.