Forestry

What does a forester do? Forestry (or "silviculture" if you want to get fancy) is the science and art of developing and caring for forests. Sounds complicated, but basically, forests need three things to be healthy: water, soil, and sun. Since foresters can't control how much it rains or what kind of soil a forest has, the one thing they try to control is how much sunlight reaches the forest floor. They do this by selecting certain trees for harvest. A lot goes into deciding which trees to harvest. Foresters think about such things as how many trees there are per acre, whether some trees are sick or damaged, and how removing trees will affect other vegetation and wildlife. Foresters these days use computers and GPS (Global Positioning Systems). They also use many different skills learned in school, like math, biology, geography, and language arts. Does forestry sound like something you would like to do for a job? To meet a real-life forester and her trusty dog Oakley, go to:
Wisconsin DNR Forester Information

For a fun quiz on the tools of forestry, go to:

Wisconsin DNR Forestry Quiz