People who work in forests
Wouldn’t it be fun to work in the woods? That’s what most foresters do.
There are two kinds of foresters. Some foresters work for a government.
They take care of national parks and forests so that people will have
places for camping, sightseeing, hunting, and fishing.
Other foresters work in woods that are owned by lumber and paper
companies. They raise and care for the trees that are used to make
houses, tables, and baseball bats. The paper you write on and the books
you read are made from trees that foresters grow.
All foresters protect the trees from insects, animals, and diseases.
They make sure that unhealthy trees are replaced with young healthy
ones, and that the young trees grow up to be big, healthy trees.
One of a forester’s most important jobs is to guard against fire.
Lookouts spend days on a lookout station, high on a mountainside,
watching for smoke that warns of a fire starting. If they see smoke,
they tell the foresters. Then the foresters direct fire fighters in
their struggle against a terrible enemy!
However, foresters also set fires! They use small fires to get rid of
brush, diseases, and insects, just as you would weed a garden. They
control the speed and direction of these fires so that they do not turn
into a conflagration—a BIG fire!
foresters at work
New trees are grown to take the place of trees that are cut. The
forester is caring for trays of seedlings in a tree nursery.
This sapling has been planted outdoors. The forester is checking the
buds to make sure the tree is healthy.
