Forestry Worker Resume Examples & Writing Guide
A forestry worker resume has to prove you can be dropped on a unit and produce. Crew bosses look for your saw experience and training, your planting or thinning production numbers, your fire and first aid qualifications, whether you hold a driver license clean enough for a crew truck, and how many seasons you finished without quitting mid-contract.
Forestry worker resume example
This sample is for a forestry worker with about eight seasons: reforestation planting, pre-commercial thinning and brush disposal for a contract crew, then a seasonal technician job with a state forestry agency. The person and the employers are made up. Copy the structure and swap in your own units, rates and training dates.
Ramon Quintero
Forestry Technician / Chainsaw Operator
Roseburg, OR · (541) 555-0148 · r.quintero.forestry@email.com
Summary
Forestry worker with 8 seasons in reforestation, pre-commercial thinning and fuels reduction across western Oregon and northern California. Plants 900 to 1,300 seedlings a day on steep ground and cuts 4 to 6 acres of small-diameter thinning per shift. Holds a current NWCG incident qualification card as Firefighter Type 2 and S-212 faller training. Eight seasons, eight contracts finished, no lost-time injuries.
Experience
Forestry Technician (Seasonal) · State forestry district, western Oregon
Mar 2023 – Present (seasonal, Mar–Nov)
- Cut and pile fuels on 5 to 7 acres per shift with a 20-inch bar saw, keeping stumps under 6 inches and slash piles inside the district's 8 by 8 foot burn spec.
- Ran survival and stocking surveys on 40 to 60 reforestation plots per week, tallying by species and recording in the district tablet app the same day.
- Served on a 20-person hand crew for 6 fire assignments in 2 seasons, 14 to 21 days each, mostly line construction and mop-up.
- Trained 4 new seasonals on saw handling, wedging and escape routes at the start of the 2025 season; all 4 passed the field evaluation.
- Kept 3 district saws in cutting shape: daily chain sharpening, filter and bar service, no saw down more than half a shift.
Silviculture Crew Member · Reforestation and vegetation management contractor (USFS and private timber contracts)
Feb 2020 – Nov 2022 (seasonal)
- Planted 900 to 1,300 bare-root Douglas-fir and ponderosa pine seedlings per day by hoedad on 40 to 70 percent slopes, passing plot checks at 92 to 96 percent proper depth and spacing.
- Thinned pre-commercial stands to a 12 by 12 foot spacing on 380 acres over two seasons, with unit inspections passed on the first walk-through every time.
- Applied backpack herbicide for site prep under a licensed applicator, mixing to label rate and logging 30 to 45 acres per week on the crew application record.
- Drove a crew truck and 16-foot trailer to units up to 2 hours out on gravel roads, no accidents or citations in 3 seasons.
Brush Crew Laborer · Utility right-of-way clearing contractor
May 2018 – Jan 2020
- Cleared brush and small trees along 6 to 9 miles of distribution line per month with brush saw and chainsaw, dragging to a chipper.
- Fed a 12-inch disc chipper for 8-hour shifts and ran ground work for a bucket operator, including rope handling and drop zone control.
- Completed the company's first aid, CPR and electrical hazard awareness training in the first 30 days.
Education
Associate of Applied Science, Forest Resources Technology
Umpqua Valley Community College, Roseburg, OR, 2020
High School Diploma
Sutherlin High School, Sutherlin, OR, 2017
Certifications
- NWCG Incident Qualification Card (red card), Firefighter Type 2, current for the 2026 season
- NWCG S-212 Wildland Fire Chain Saws, completed 2023
- S-130 / S-190 Basic Wildland Firefighter training and annual fire refresher (RT-130)
- American Red Cross Adult First Aid/CPR/AED, valid to 2027
- Oregon Class C driver license, clean record; DOT medical card current
Skills
What a crew boss reads first
Forestry hiring is fast and mostly done by the crew boss or a district technician, not by an HR office. They are answering four questions before they decide to call you.
- Can you run a saw and keep it running? Saw experience plus S-212 or Game of Logging training beats a general "hard worker" claim every time.
- What is your production? Seedlings per day, acres thinned per shift, miles of line cleared per month. A number tells them what your day costs them.
- Are you fire-qualified? A current red card at Firefighter Type 2 makes you useful on two payrolls instead of one, and many districts hire for that reason alone.
- Can you drive, and will you finish the season? A clean license, a DOT medical card if the crew truck needs one, and full seasons listed end to end.
“I get 60 applications for a planting crew and half say "physically fit, willing to work outdoors". That tells me nothing. The ones I call wrote 1,100 trees a day, 94 percent on plot checks, and finished three contracts with the same outfit. If you also have a red card and a saw class, you go to the top of the pile.”
Forestry worker resume summary and objective examples
Three to four lines at the top. Lead with seasons, then the work type, then a number and your saw or fire training. If you have no seasons yet, write an objective instead and put your training and your fitness in it.
Forestry worker with 8 seasons in reforestation and pre-commercial thinning across the Pacific Northwest. Plants 900 to 1,300 bare-root seedlings a day on 40 to 70 percent slopes at 92 to 96 percent on plot checks. Cuts 5 acres of small-diameter thinning per shift. Current NWCG red card, Firefighter Type 2, and S-212 faller training.
Wildland fuels worker with 6 seasons of hand-piling, hazard tree removal and hand line construction. Certified through NWCG S-212 with 4 seasons as a designated crew sawyer. 14 fire assignments, 3 of them out of region, no lost-time injuries. Comfortable with 16-day rolls, night shifts and spike camp.
Recently completed S-130/S-190 and a chainsaw safety course, looking for a first season on a planting or fuels crew. Farm and fencing background with 3 summers of outdoor manual work, comfortable carrying 45 pounds on steep ground for a full shift. Available March through November, willing to travel and camp out.
Forestry crew member with 9 seasons, the last 3 running a 6-person planting crew: unit layout, daily tallies, plot checks and quality corrections with the contract inspector. Crews averaged 1,050 trees per planter per day at 95 percent on inspection. Bilingual English and Spanish. Seeking a crew boss or contract supervisor role.
Forestry work bullets you can copy and edit
Weak bullets describe the job. Strong bullets describe your output on that job: species, ground, rate, spec, inspection result. Here are common forestry duties rewritten.
| Weak | Strong |
|---|---|
| Planted trees for a reforestation company. | Planted 900 to 1,300 bare-root Douglas-fir seedlings per day by hoedad on 40 to 70 percent slopes, passing contract plot checks at 92 to 96 percent. |
| Used a chainsaw on a daily basis. | Ran a 20-inch bar saw for 6 to 7 hours a shift felling small-diameter conifers, sharpened chains twice daily and kept the saw in service with no down time over the season. |
| Helped with thinning projects. | Thinned 380 acres of pre-commercial stands to 12 by 12 foot spacing over two seasons, with every unit passing inspection on the first walk-through. |
| Assisted with fires when needed. | Completed 6 fire assignments over 2 seasons on a 20-person hand crew, 14 to 21 days each, building hand line and running mop-up grids. |
| Did surveys in the field. | Ran 40 to 60 stocking and survival plots a week, tallied by species and height class, and entered results in the district tablet app the same day with under 2 percent corrections. |
| Worked well with the crew. | Trained 4 first-season workers in saw handling, wedging and escape route planning; all 4 passed the field evaluation and finished the season. |
| Followed all safety rules. | Eight seasons with no lost-time injuries; ran the tailgate safety briefing 2 to 3 times a week and enforced saw spacing on steep ground. |
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Skills to put on a forestry worker resume
Keep the skills box to things a crew boss can test on day one. Split it into work you can do, gear you can run, and the ground you can handle.
Field work skills:
- Chainsaw felling, limbing and bucking of small to medium diameter stems
- Hoedad, dibble and shovel planting; correct depth, spacing and root placement
- Pre-commercial thinning to a written spacing spec
- Hand piling and slash disposal to burn pile spec
- Stocking, survival and stand exam plots; species and height tallies
- Timber marking, unit boundary flagging and paint
- Hand line construction, mop-up and hose lay
Tools and equipment:
- Chainsaws (Stihl and Husqvarna), wedges, felling axe, file and depth gauge
- Brush saw, pole saw, disc chipper
- Backpack sprayer and calibrated mix
- Compass, clinometer, diameter tape, increment borer, relaskop
- Handheld GPS and mapping apps (Avenza, ArcGIS Field Maps)
- ATV, UTV, crew truck with trailer, chains in snow
- Pumps, hose, drip torch and hand tools for prescribed burn support
The things crews actually complain about, so say them plainly:
- Carrying 45 pounds of gear over steep, brushy ground for a full shift
- Working in heat, rain, snow and smoke, and camping at spike camp
- Long drives before and after a shift, early starts, 10 to 14 day rolls
- Following a spacing or spec sheet without needing a second check
- Basic Spanish or English, whichever your crew is short of
Training, red cards and licenses: how to list them
Forestry work has no single national license for crew members, but there is a short list of training every hiring crew recognizes. Give the issuer, the level and the date, because most of these expire.
NWCG Incident Qualification Card (red card), Firefighter Type 2 (FFT2), current for the 2026 season; annual RT-130 fire refresher and work capacity test at the Arduous level, completed April 2026.
NWCG S-212 Wildland Fire Chain Saws, completed 2023; Faller 3 (FAL3) qualification signed off 2024.
American Red Cross Adult First Aid/CPR/AED, valid to 2027. Wilderness First Aid, 16 hours, valid to 2027.
Oregon Pesticide Applicator license, Forest category, valid to 2027. If you only work under someone else's license, write "applies under a licensed applicator" instead.
Class C driver license, clean record; DOT medical card current to 2027. Class A CDL with tanker endorsement if you have one, because water tender work pays.
Two things to get right. A red card is issued through an agency or contractor after training plus a fitness test, and it lapses if you skip the annual refresher, so name the season it is current for. And do not call yourself a Certified Forester: that title comes from the Society of American Foresters and needs a forestry degree, so misusing it ends your application.
Forestry worker resume with no experience
First-season crews are hired on fitness, attitude and availability. Almost nobody starts with forestry experience, so build the page out of what you do have.
- 1Put your availability at the very top: "Available March through November, willing to travel and camp out." That single line answers the crew boss's first worry.
- 2List any outdoor physical work as its own job: farm, fencing, roofing, landscaping crew, moving, ranch help. Say what you carried and for how long.
- 3Take S-130/S-190 online through NWCG for free before you apply, then a local pack test if you can get on one. Even the coursework alone puts you ahead.
- 4Add a chainsaw safety course from a community college, an extension service or Game of Logging. It costs a weekend and it is the single best line on a first-season resume.
- 5Get first aid and CPR. It is one afternoon and most crews require it anyway.
- 6Say you have a valid license and a clean record, and whether you can drive a truck with a trailer.
Looking for a first season on a planting, thinning or fuels crew. Completed S-130/S-190 and a two-day chainsaw safety course in January 2026. Three summers on a hay and fencing crew, routinely carrying 50 to 70 pound bales and posts for 9-hour days. Valid license, clean record, available March to November, no problem with spike camp.
Hay and Fence Crew, family cattle operation, summers 2023 to 2025: stacked 600 to 800 bales a day in 90 degree heat, dug and set 40 to 60 fence posts a week, ran a chainsaw for downed timber clearing after storms.
Format, length and job posting words
- One page. Two only if you have a forestry degree plus a long list of fire qualifications.
- No photo and no date of birth. US resumes do not carry them.
- Put a Qualifications or Training block near the top, above experience. Your red card and saw class are the first thing they hunt for.
- For federal jobs on USAJOBS the rules are different: they want a long resume with hours per week, supervisor names and salary for every job. Keep a separate longer version for that, and keep this one-page version for contractors and states.
Mirror the posting's words. Reforestation, silviculture, pre-commercial thinning, fuels reduction, stand exam, timber marking, hand crew, faller, chainsaw operator, hoedad, slash, prescribed burn support, right-of-way clearing. If the posting says "vegetation management" and you wrote "brush clearing", add their phrase in parentheses once. Outside the US the same job is often advertised as forestry operative or woodland operative; if you are applying to a US employer, use the US terms.
Frequently asked questions
How do I write a forestry worker resume?
Open with three lines that say how many seasons you have worked, what kind of work (planting, thinning, fuels, surveys), a production number and your saw and fire training. Then list each employer with seasons, and give each job three to five bullets that carry a rate, a spec or an inspection result. Put training and licenses near the top, not buried at the bottom. Keep it to one page.
What skills should I put on a forestry resume?
Chainsaw felling and maintenance, planting by hoedad or dibble, thinning to spacing, hand piling, plot surveys, compass and GPS work, backpack herbicide application, and ATV or truck-and-trailer driving. Add the physical facts too: carrying 45 pounds on steep ground, long rolls, spike camp. Skip generic lines like "team player", they are ignored in this trade.
Do I need a red card to get hired on a forestry crew?
Not for planting or thinning work, but it helps a lot. A current NWCG incident qualification card at Firefighter Type 2 means the contractor can send you on fire assignments as well as project work, which is more revenue for them and more hours for you. Many contractors will train and test you for it once you are on the crew.
How do I show seasonal forestry work without looking like a job hopper?
Label it. Write the dates as "Mar 2020 – Nov 2022 (seasonal)" and add one line saying you were asked back for consecutive seasons. Group repeat seasons under one employer heading rather than repeating the employer. Nobody in forestry expects year-round dates; they expect you to finish the contract you sign.
What is a good objective for a forestry worker resume with no experience?
Say what season you want, what training you already did, and what physical work you have done. For example: "Looking for a first season on a planting or fuels crew. Completed S-130/S-190 and a chainsaw safety course in January 2026. Three summers of farm and fencing work carrying 50 to 70 pound loads. Available March to November." Availability and training beat enthusiasm.
How long should a forestry worker resume be?
One page for crew and technician jobs. Two pages if you hold a forestry degree and a long list of NWCG qualifications, or if you are applying for a crew boss or contract supervisor role. Federal applications through USAJOBS are the exception and need a much longer resume with hours per week for every job.
Should I list my planting numbers if they were piece rate?
Yes, and they are usually your strongest line. Divide a good day's piece-rate earnings by the per-tree price to get your daily count, then give a range rather than one number. Add the plot check percentage if you know it, because quality matters as much as speed on contract work.
Is a forestry worker CV different from a US resume?
In the UK, Canada and Australia the same job is often posted as forestry operative or silviculture worker and the document is called a CV, but the content is the same: seasons, saw tickets, production, licenses. For US employers use "resume", one page, no photo, and use NWCG training names rather than UK ticket names.
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How this page was made: a first draft was written with AI assistance from cvplex's example library, then edited and fact-checked by the cvplex Careers Team. Examples are fictional composites; numbers are illustrative. Report an error via the editorial policy page.