2. I Am Not a Professional Forester. What Kind of Work Can I Find in 

 the Forest Service? 



The Forest Service needs a competent staff of technicians, aides, 

 skilled workers, clerical personnel, and laborers to assist management 

 in all phases of its work. 



Since many National Forests are in mountainous country which 

 becomes snow-covered and inaccessible in the winter, much of the 

 nonprofessional type work must be done during the other three sea- 

 sons. Tree planting work is usually done in the spring or fall. Fire 

 control w^ork is largely confined to the "fire season," the period of 

 greatest fire danger. In the western States, this is during the summer, 

 and in the eastern States, early spring and late fall. 



During the summer months, the nonprofessional staff also works on 

 flood control, disease and insect control, brush disposal, timber stand 

 improvement, and construction and maintenance of roads, trails, 

 campgrounds, sanitation facilities, and other buildings. 



3. How Important Are the Nonprofessional Workers to the Forest Service? 



Very important, indeed. Nonprofessionals help the professional 

 do the job he has to do. An engineer's road design for a National 

 Forest is useless unless he has a corps of unskilled, skilled, and super- 

 visory workers to build the road. In this respect, the Forest Service is 

 like any other large organization with its different levels of skills and 

 functions which have to operate harmoniously. 



Let's look a bit closer at the categories listed under the second 

 question : 



A. TECHNICIAN. — More and more professions are finding that 

 certain tasks that were once performed by the professional 

 can be delegated to the technician. In the Forest Service, 

 this approach has met with great success. Technicians have 

 taken over from the professional foresters such responsible 

 and difficult jobs as supervising on-the-ground operations 



