8 MISC. PUBLICATION 249, U. S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE 



promotions, as are other key positions in the Service. The length of time 

 a technically trained man may spend in subordinate positions before he 

 becomes a district ranger will vary both with individual qualifications and 

 with the opportunities offered. 



After appointment in the Forest Service, a forestry graduate should expect 

 to spend from 1 to 2 years as a junior forester. The first year of service is 

 the probationary period, an extension of the examining process. Those who 

 are not adapted to practical forestry work are separated from the Service 

 during this period. Those who are retained beyond the 1-year period are 

 ordinarily promoted to more responsible positions such as assistant district 

 ranger, where training continues. From 3 to 10 years may elapse before 

 the appointee is promoted to a district ranger position. 



One line of advancement may lead the young forester from an assistant 

 ranger position to district ranger, then assistant forest supervisor, from which 

 he may advance to a supervisor's position. Additional promotions may 

 eventually take him to the regional forester's office or even higher. 



Another line of progress may be from technical assistant on a forest ranger 

 district to technician on the supervisor's staff, followed by assignment as 

 technician for an entire region. Other lines of promotion may be taken in 

 the research field — starting, for example, as a technical assistant and ad- 

 vancing to project leader or specialist on some phase of the experimental 

 work, or to a staff position at a forest and range experiment station. In 

 State and private cooperation, a young forester is usually assigned to farm 

 forestry or similar cooperative work only after some preliminary experience. 

 He may advance to regional or headquarters staff positions in this field. 

 Varying combinations of these lines of promotion may be applied in indi- 

 vidual cases. To broaden his knowledge and experience, a man may be 

 assigned at different times to national forest administration and to research 

 or cooperative work. Thorough technical training and wide experience are 

 now considered prerequisite to success in the higher positions. 



The career idea is thus carried out by advancement within the Service as 

 men become more proficient in their work. Forest supervisors, assistant 

 supervisors, and regional and national officers are men who have come up 

 through the ranks. 



Special Assignments and Positions 



Technical assistants to the ranger may be assigned to fire control, road 

 and trail construction, timber culture, or other special jobs. Similarly, 

 staff technicians directly under the forest supervisor may also be assigned 

 to any one of these functions on the entire forest: Fire control, watershed 

 protection, timber plans and sales, wildlife, range management, improve- 

 ments of various kinds, timber culture, recreation, flood and erosion control, 

 or general technical work. 



Experts for technical positions in a number of other lines of work in the 

 Forest Service are recruited by special civil-service examinations. There 

 are many of these jobs, such as: Forest ecologists, entomologists, pathol- 

 ogists, soil scientists, engineers in timber tests, chemical engineers, and wood 

 technologists. Clerks, stenographers, accountants, and similar office workers 

 are likewise appointed from civil-service registers established through the 

 regular examinations for such positions. 



