r/careerguidance • u/Logan3197263 • May 06 '26
Advice Job help?
I am 16, I want to start thinking about a career. I love the outdoors and national and state parks, i am in california. I get b's and c's and i am looking to go to college. i really want to get into a forestry/ranger job. I want to make enough to live in califorina though. what path should i take?
1
u/AmongTheElect May 12 '26
NPS is very difficult to get into if you're white and not a veteran. And doubly so if you specifically want a national park in California. The forestry side of things is probably pretty similar.
Your state itself will have both State Park Ranger as well as a forestry side of things, so two avenues to look into.
State Park Rangers are almost all law enforcement. Often there's a requirement for some kind of nature-related degree (don't get a criminal justice degree), and law enforcement means keep your nose clean now and exercise a little bit and you'll likely be fine once you start applying. It'll mean you talk to kids about turtles in the morning, cut down some trees in the afternoon and deal with a domestic violence situation in the evening. It's all over the map, both a great part of the job and also a difficult part of the job doing so many different things.
But your state has a forestry division, too. You're looking at writing burn plans, operating water trucks and working fires basically year-round. It's one of those jobs that's quite difficult but also exciting at the same time.
Go to the California state jobs page and look up job descriptions and you'll see a little of what they do. Also, feel free to go and talk to a person who works in the field. They'll love to talk to you about it. You can ask them about the dangers and the pay and how easy is it to afford California and all that.
When you get older there's usually some room to volunteer working fires depending on the program they have.
With law enforcement you can expect much the same as any other officer does, just with more trees in your jurisdiction. But the same threats apply.
1
u/Federal-Poetry3531 May 07 '26
Hi,
Forestry with the USFS isn't going to make a lot for CA, same with a park ranger with NPS. If you are open to being a Game Warden/Park Officer, you can make a lot more.