interested in forests Forest technician – individual primarily responsible for the marking of timber sales and on-ground land management, often requires a two-year Associate of Science degree Forester – professional chiefly responsible for the management of forests, requires a Bachelor of Science degree in most countries Master forester – forestry expert responsible for forest management and training Hotshot crew/Handcrew – a group of wildland firefighters specialized in fire suppression tactics Lumberjack – the typical feller of trees and harvester of the lumber, duties can also include: Log bucking – delimbing and partitioning of trees into logs Log driving – transportation of logs on a river or lake downstream to the mill Log scaling – measurement of felled trees to determine the volume of wood going to the manufacturer Resin extractor – laborer who extracts resin from pine trees Rubber tapper – laborer who extracts natural rubber from tropical rubber trees Smokejumper – firefighters who parachute into remote areas to fight wildland fires Timber cruiser – responsible for assessing forest growth, health, and valuation Tree planters – help reestablish forests after logging, fires, and other events and circumstances Silvicultural methods Silviculture – practice of controlling the establishment, growth, composition, health, and quality of forests to meet diverse needs and values. Silviculture also focuses on making sure that the treatment(s) of forest stands are used to preserve and to better their productivity. Site preparation Controlled burn – use of fire in order to eliminate weeds, brush, or slash, or to release on-site seeds of fire-dependent species Stump harvesting – removal of tree stumps either for biomass or to free up space in the soil Drum chopping – knocking down small trees and brush to clear the ground for planting Planting Broadcast seeding – scattering of seed either by hand or mechanically over a relatively large area Aerial seeding – dispersing of seed from an aircraft, used especially in mountainous areas Treeplanting – transplanting of juvenile seedlings into the ground at a predetermined spacing Intermediate treatments Weeding – removal or reduction of herbaceous or woody species around seedlings Cleaning – removal of competing saplings of similar age in order to favor saplings of desirable growth characteristics Liberation cutting – removal of older and established overtopping trees from desirable saplings Thinning – removal of trees to favor the growth of select trees in order to maximize timber production Ecological thinning – removal of trees