• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
ForestryDegree.net

ForestryDegree.net

Forestry Degree

  • Schools
  • Degrees
  • Career
  • Salary
  • Search All Schools

national parks

May 1, 2018 by Christina Warburg

Several months ago I talked about the proposed peak season entrance fee increase and shared my support for it. The entrance fee increase was proposed to address the National Park Service’s 11.6 Billion Dollar Maintenance Backlog. This month the NPS announced that they indeed would be raising entrance fees, but not as steeply as originally stated.

[Read more…] about Parks Raise Entrance Fees to Address Maintenance Backlog

Filed Under: Conservation, Current Events, Forestry Basics Tagged With: Federal Budget, National Park Service, national parks, Public Lands

February 1, 2018 by Christina Warburg

On Friday January 18, Congress failed to come to an agreement on a budget and a Government Shutdown occurred. Unfortunately, this is not the first time this has happened and it will not be the last. However, what was different about this shutdown was that the national parks remained open. Today, we are going to examine the pros and cons of that decision and about how this shutdown (and future shutdowns) has the ability to affect our public lands.

[Read more…] about The Cost of a Government Shutdown to our Public Lands

Filed Under: Conservation, Current Events, Forestry Basics, Jobs in Forestry Tagged With: Budget, Federal Budget, Find Your Park, National Park Service, national parks

July 30, 2017 by Christina Warburg

On this blog I frequently discuss the issues facing our public lands today. Many of these issues stem from overcrowding and our parks being “loved to death.” As many parks experience more and more visitation, with increasing impacts on the natural resources they are supposed to protect, the question is often raised, “What can we do?” Zion National Park is finally taking charge to do something about this and recently announced the preliminary concepts of their Visitor Use Management Plan (VUMP). This plan is a game changer in many ways, and sets a precedent that we can expect to see other parks following in the upcoming years.

[Read more…] about Zion National Park Sets Precedent with Visitor Use Management

Filed Under: Conservation, Current Events Tagged With: Conservation, Find Your Park, National Park Service, national parks, Visitor Use Management

June 1, 2017 by Christina Warburg

This month we are jumping right back into our spotlight series! As previously covered in an earlier blog, searching the USAjobs website can get confusing. There are hundreds of jobs out there and their job titles might not sound anything like what the position actually entails.  Even though you now know how to search for jobs according to their series and grade, you might be thrown off by the jobs that your search comes up with. I am going to be spotlighting specific starter positions within our public lands that you might not necessarily think to apply to. However, these are jobs that you should be applying to, as they offer an excellent foot into the door in the forestry field. This month’s spotlight is on the ever-famous Interpretive Park Ranger job. These are the people you see giving ranger programs and in the visitor centers. You will see these positions listed as Interp, Park Ranger Interp or Park Ranger (I) on USAjobs. It is similar to the education ranger, but there are some differences (NEVER confuse the two, you are likely to deeply offend the ranger). Special thanks to Rangers Ben and Darcy from Zion National Park for helping us out with this month’s spotlight!

[Read more…] about Forestry Job Spotlight: Interp Ranger

Filed Under: Forestry Basics, Forestry Jobs, Jobs in Forestry Tagged With: Beginning Forestry, Careers in Forestry, Federal Jobs, Forestry Jobs, National Park Service, national parks, park ranger, seasonal park rangers, Tips for Federal Jobs

April 30, 2017 by Christina Warburg

Canyons

It seems as with each passing day that public lands are becoming more and more present on the frontlines of the American social consciousness. For years these lands have gotten so much bipartisan support that we forgot that there are still those out there who aren’t particularly fond of them. In recent years, and even weeks, it has become more and more evident that these special places aren’t beloved by everyone, and that if we want to keep them around the way they are now, we need to be aware of that.

[Read more…] about The Fight Against America’s Public Lands

Filed Under: Conservation, Current Events, Forestry Jobs Tagged With: Bureau of Land Management, Conservation, Forest Conservation, National Park Service, national parks

January 1, 2017 by Christina Warburg

dsc09397-2As we approach the end of 2016, I think this is an opportune time to look back on the Centennial year of the National Park Service. It has been a busy year in the parks, with lots of ups and downs. In case you missed them, these are some of the headlines in the NPS from 2016.

[Read more…] about Top 16 National Park Headlines from 2016

Filed Under: Conservation, Forestry Basics, Uncategorized Tagged With: 2016, Find Your Park, National Park Service, national parks, park ranger, Park Service Centennial, seasonal park rangers

November 30, 2016 by Christina Warburg

dsc06627As previously covered in an earlier blog, searching the USAjobs website can get confusing. There are hundreds of jobs out there and their job titles might not sound anything like what the position actually entails.  Even though you now know how to search for jobs according to their series and grade, you might be thrown off by the jobs that your search comes up with. For the next several months, I am going to be spotlighting specific starter positions within our public lands that you might not necessarily think to apply to. However, these are jobs that you should be applying to, as they offer an excellent foot into the door in the forestry field. This month’s spotlight is on the Education Technician position. While not every park or public land offers this position, it can be a great way to get your foot in the door in our nations biggest parks, especially if you like kids. Special Thanks to Ranger Joshua Contois from Great Smoky Mountains National Park for helping us out with this month’s spotlight!

[Read more…] about Forestry Job Spotlight: Education Technician

Filed Under: Forestry Basics, Forestry Degrees, Forestry Jobs, Jobs in Forestry Tagged With: Federal Jobs, Forestry, Forestry Careers, Forestry Jobs, Getting hired, National Park Service, national parks, park ranger, Park Service Centennial, seasonal park rangers, Tips for Federal Jobs, Tips for Students, USAJobs

November 1, 2016 by Christina Warburg

dsc08436-2As previously covered in an earlier blog, searching the USAjobs website can get confusing. There are hundreds of jobs out there and their job titles might not sound anything like what the position actually entails.  Even though you now know how to search for jobs according to their series and grade, you might be thrown off by the jobs that your search comes up with. For the next several months, I am going to be spotlighting specific starter positions within our public lands that you might not necessarily think to apply to. However, these are jobs that you should be applying to, as they offer an excellent foot into the door in the forestry field. This week’s spotlight is on the dispatcher position. From my experience this is a bit off the wall, and there aren’t many positions like it, even as 911 dispatcher elsewhere. Working in a national park there are a variety of emergencies that are dealt with, from hiking/climbing search and rescues, motor vehicle accidents, crimes and disabled vehicles, all of which the dispatchers handle.

[Read more…] about Forestry Job Spotlight: Dispatcher

Filed Under: Forestry Basics, Forestry Jobs, Jobs in Forestry Tagged With: Beginning Forestry, Careers in Forestry, Forestry Careers, Forestry Jobs, National Park Service, national parks, Tips for Federal Jobs

September 1, 2016 by Christina Warburg

Centennial

We take a break this month from our regularly scheduled programming to celebrate something very near and dear to my heart (and most likely yours as well). On August 25th, The National Park Service celebrated 100 years of service. In case you weren’t able to make it out to a park for the day- let me summarize the events across our nation. It was a festive special day, unlike anything our parks have seen before. With free entrance, musical events, instameets, special campfire programs, and free cake: every park offered something special for those guests fortunate enough to be visiting a park on this historic day. We were the google doodle of the day, Facebook featured us their home page and we were the number one trending topic on twitter. Because I am a National Park Service employee, I was lucky enough to receive several gifts –from coworkers, management, and park visitors- to commemorate this special day. These gifts got me thinking about the gifts that our national parks give all of us daily. Gifts that are worth celebrating as the agency which protects them reaches this milestone.

[Read more…] about Four Gifts to Celebrate the National Park Service Centennial

Filed Under: Forestry Basics, Jobs in Forestry, Uncategorized Tagged With: 2016, Find Your Park, National Park Service, national parks, park ranger, Park Service Centennial

July 31, 2016 by Christina Warburg

DSC04448

As previously covered in an earlier blog, searching the USAjobs website can get confusing. There are hundreds of jobs out there and their job titles might not sound anything like what the position actually entails.  Even though you now know how to search for jobs according to their series and grade, you might be thrown off by the jobs that your search comes up with. For the next several months, I am going to be spotlighting specific starter positions within our public lands that you might not necessarily think to apply to. However, these are jobs that you should be applying to, as they offer an excellent foot into the door in the forestry field. This week’s spotlight is on the Visitor Use Assistant position- one that is near and dear to my heart, as it was the job that gave me my foot in the door.

[Read more…] about Forestry Job Spotlight: Visitor Use Assistant

Filed Under: Forestry Basics, Forestry Degrees, Forestry Jobs, Jobs in Forestry Tagged With: Careers in Forestry, Federal Jobs, Forestry Jobs, National Park Service, national parks, park ranger, seasonal park rangers, Tips for Federal Jobs, Tips for Students, USAJobs

July 1, 2016 by Christina Warburg

When President Obama visited Yosemite and Carlsbad Caverns this month, he faced a lot of criticism. Some of the complaints were that the timing wasn’t right following the tragedy in Orlando, that his weekend visit interrupted the Father’s Day weekend of too many people in the crowded Yosemite, that he should be focused on more important things than the national parks, and finally that his transportation had a negative environmental impact on these places. Even if every single one of these complaints were absolutely legitimate, Obama’s visit to the parks was still important and still necessary.

[Read more…] about Why Obama’s National Park Trip Matters

Filed Under: Conservation, Forestry Basics, Forestry Jobs Tagged With: 2016, Conservation, Conservation Tips, Forestry Conservation, National Park Service, national parks, Park Service Centennial

June 3, 2016 by Christina Warburg

IMG_6499Recently, Yellowstone has been the spotlight of many trending headline: the woman petting the bison on opening day, the foreign tourists putting a bison calf in their vehicle because it looked cold, the group of four Canadians walking out on Grand Prismatic Spring, and, even today, a trending headline about an elk charging a woman taking a photo of it. While these headlines can be equal parts amusing and infuriating, they perfectly illustrate the challenges facing our public lands and, in particular, our national parks as they enter the next century.

[Read more…] about How Recent Yellowstone Headlines Illustrate the Challenges Facing Our Public Lands

Filed Under: Conservation, Forestry Basics, Forestry Jobs Tagged With: 2016, Find Your Park, National Park Service, national parks, park ranger, Park Service Centennial

May 6, 2016 by Christina Warburg

IMG_9983

The National Parks are known to be colorful, from the wildflowers to brilliant sunsets and sunrises to the wide diversity of colorful animals and even to the rainbow colored waters. However, there is one area in which our parks are seriously lacking in color and that is within the people who visit our national treasures. Out of the over 307 million people who visit our parks each year, a surprisingly low percentage of them are minorities. In fact, only 22% of the people who visit the parks identify as non-white. This is a troubling statistic, and it is one that needs to change. But how?

[Read more…] about The Troubling Lack of Diversity in America’s National Parks

Filed Under: Conservation, Forestry Basics, Green Tips Tagged With: Diversity, Every Kid in the Park, Find Your Park, Forestry Jobs, National Park Service, national parks, Park Service Centennial

March 29, 2016 by Christina Warburg

IMG_3271When visiting Yosemite, the Grand Canyon, or any other of the vast number of protected scenic lands in the United States, most people are grateful that the land was set aside to be protected. But besides the immediate effects of conserving a piece of land, what other benefits do America’s Public Lands have on the green movement as a whole and how do they positively affect environmental stewardship?

[Read more…] about What Impact Do Our Public Lands Have on Environmental Stewardship?

Filed Under: Conservation, Forestry Basics, Green Tips Tagged With: Conservation, Conservation Tips, Forest Conservation, Green Planet, National Park Service, national parks, sustainability

February 29, 2016 by Christina Warburg

Hopefully after reading previous blogs and following the tips given, you have landed a job in the outdoors this summer in a park or forest, doing what you love. But now what? Summer is still a few months away so how do you prepare for it? When I began my first summer at Grand Teton in 2012, I had no idea what I was getting myself into or even what to expect. Here are some things that you might not think to expect from your summer, but that will definitely happen. [Read more…] about 4 Things to Expect When Moving to a Park for Work

Filed Under: Forestry Basics, Forestry Jobs, Jobs in Forestry Tagged With: Beginning Forestry, Careers in Forestry, Federal Jobs, Find Your Park, Forestry Careers, Forestry Jobs, National Park Service, national parks, Seasonal Jobs

November 30, 2015 by Christina Warburg

IMG_0028

I, like many others, am extremely active on social media. I check it first thing when I wake up and right before I fall asleep. I follow many people whose work I find inspiring and I constantly check hashtags in an effort to discover new people, new locations, and new perspectives. However, lately I have begun noticing a trend that extremely distressing to me as a conservationist and park ranger: People hurting the protected (and to me, the absolutely most sacred) land of our national parks, in order to get the shot. I don’t want to point fingers, name names, or even be a spoil-sport, but somebody has got to say something, and it might as well be me. But before we go farther, I want to make one thing clear. I do not in any way, shape or form, believe that social media is the root of the problem that is apathy, or that it is a new problem. People have been disrespecting parks for years. But I do strongly believe that the influences social media has is now a huge issue and is quietly destroying the parks faster than ever before. [Read more…] about How Social Media is Harming our Public Lands

Filed Under: Conservation, Forestry Basics, Green Tips Tagged With: Conservation, Conservation Tips, Find Your Park, national parks, Park Service Centennial, Social Media

May 31, 2015 by Christina Warburg

IMG_9624_edited-1For students hoping to enter the forestry field, it has been nothing but good news lately. With the increases in budgets and job opportunities, students have more reason to be hopeful for a forestry career now than ever before. But the good news keeps on coming. In March a new bill was introduced that seeks to open up the playing field when it comes to the hiring process for permanent jobs.

[Read more…] about New Bill to Provide a Pathway to Permanent Jobs for Seasonal Workers

Filed Under: Forestry Jobs, Jobs in Forestry Tagged With: Forestry Jobs, national parks, park ranger, seasonal park rangers, state parks

© Copyright 2025 Contact Us | About | Privacy Policy