Abstract
Average annual incomes for forest management and protection includes salaries for full-time permanent employees of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, which have increased from a median of $41,300 in 1992 to $48,200 in 2000, to $50,500 in 2006 (all in 2005$). Salary of full-time permanent employees in state forestry agencies in 1998, for entry level foresters, ranged from $48,000 for the Pacific Coast, $39,000 in the North, $35,000 for the Rocky Mountains, and $28,000 for the South (all in 2005$). Trends in wages for the pulp and paper industry have been increasing at the same pace as wages for all manufacturing while the trend in wages for solidwood industries has not kept pace. Injury rates in forest products industries have been declining at the same pace as for all manufacturing. Businesses in the nontimber forest products (NTFP) industry are generally small, exceptions exist, but most employ less than 10 people. Many workers receive fewer benefits or lower wages, or experience worse working conditions than they would in the formal economy. Injury rates for the non-timber forest products sectors have not been assessed. Gathering products in the forest can be dangerous, and there are reports in the media of people becoming lost or injured every year. In the 2006 average income for a person employed in the forest recreation and tourism private sector is estimated to be $23,517, approximately 9% less than the average American.
Keywords
Officials,
employees,
salaries,
forests,
forestry,
United States,
wounds,
injuries,
trauma,
forest products industry,
employment,
personnel,
forestry workers,
pulp and paper industry,
labor market,
income,
wage rates,
safety at work,
accidents,
non wood forest products,
working conditions,
injury rates
Citation
Skog, Ken; Alexander, Susan J.; Bergstrom, John; Cordell, Ken; Hill, Elizabeth; Howard, James; Westby, Rebecca. 2011. Criterion 6, indicator 37 : average wage rates, annual average income, and annual injury rates in major forest employment categories. Research note FPL-RN-0323. Madison, WI : U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Forest Service, Forest Products Laboratory. 11 p.
