Also called: Reforestation Worker, Forest and Conservation Worker
Plants seedlings after harvests and fires, and does trail, thinning, and brush work in forests.
With a bag of seedlings on your hip and a shovel, you plant one tree every few seconds on a steep clearcut, maybe 1,000+ a day. It's grueling but many planters love the camaraderie and the money of piece-rate work.
Piece-rate pay; fast planters earn much more during the season.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
No formal education, about 0 years after high school. No education required; physical fitness is key.
Ways in: On-the-job training. Training cost: Get paid while you train.
Growing about average (about 2% over 10 years). Forest and conservation workers; post-fire replanting demand is huge.
Low risk in 5 years, medium in 10. Seed-planting drones are in trials, but hand planting on rough burned slopes stays common through 2031.
Age 18+. One way to start: Apply to reforestation contractors for spring planting crews; they train you to plant on day one
Classes: PE or fitness, Biology.
Official data: O*NET occupation 45-4011.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.