Description
Plan, administer, and optimize timber inventories, harvests, and sales on public and private forestlands to meet economic and sustainability goals. Evaluate stand conditions, appraise timber value, prepare and administer timber-sale contracts, and ensure regulatory and best management practice compliance. Design silvicultural treatments, reforestation, and road/access plans to support continuous yield, habitat protection, and water and soil quality. Use GIS, growth-and-yield analysis, and field cruising to schedule operations and monitor performance.
- • Monitor timber-sale contract compliance and outcomes to ensure adherence to laws and best management practices.
- • Develop short- and long-term timber management plans and harvest schedules.
- • Supervise cruisers, marking crews, and logging contractors.
- • Plan site preparation and reforestation, including mechanical treatment, prescribed burning, and herbicide use.
- • Plan and oversee silvicultural treatments, nursery coordination, thinning, and seedling growth monitoring.
- • Negotiate and prepare timber-sale, harvesting, and land-leasing agreements.
- • Coordinate fuel-reduction treatments and integrate wildfire risk mitigation into timber plans.
- • Select harvesting systems and layout to minimize waste, protect resources, and optimize recovery.
- • Analyze stand dynamics, growth and yield, regeneration, and species performance.
- • Monitor harvested areas to ensure compliance with reclamation and reforestation standards.
- • Incorporate habitat, soil, and water-quality objectives into timber operations.
- • Plan and direct timber cruises, inventories, and studies; prepare reports and recommendations.
- • Inspect logging operations, haul roads, decks, and nurseries for quality and compliance.
- • Map stands, soils, and access using GIS to estimate volume, value, and growth.
- • Provide landowner outreach and education on timber management and stewardship.
- • Source and procure timber from private landowners and agencies.
- • Contract with loggers and trucking firms and design harvest unit and road layouts.
- • Prepare cutting plans, mark stands, scale or audit delivered logs, and administer timber sales.
- • Assess timber operation impacts on wildlife and implement mitigations.
- • Plan and oversee construction and maintenance of harvest roads, landings, stream crossings, and bridges to standards.
- • Advise clients, mills, and agencies on timber valuation, markets, and management options.
- • Evaluate species silvics, site suitability, and resistance to pests and disease for timber objectives.
- • Develop or implement methods to improve wood utilization and residue recovery.
- • Enhance cruising, sampling, and tree identification methods and tools.
- • Contact landowners to obtain access and conduct timber inventories and appraisals.
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This site includes information from O*NET by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. Career Clutch has modified some of this information for student readability. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.
Last reviewed: Jan 2026
