Inventory Forester

Skylight Forestry, Inc. is looking to hire full-time (contractual basis) Inventory Foresters. Reporting directly to the Owner, you will be responsible for collecting high quality data on the forest and implementing silvicultural prescriptions.

This position almost exclusively consists of timber cruising. Summer/Fall 2027 will include work on the Mark Twain National Forest in Missouri, while winter will include work in Florida. Folks do not have to work the winter, but may do so if they wish.

Pay: $400.00 – $600.00 per day with production bonuses

Type: Full-time, Contract. Employee positions considered. Folks will be responsible for achieving quotas and meeting timeline deliverables but can schedule their work how they wish. These positions are ideal for experienced, productive timber cruisers.

Location (s): Current needs are on the Mark Twain National Forest near Salem, Missouri (Summer/Fall 2026) and Florida (Fall/Winter 2026) with other projects throughout the eastern US.

What You’ll Do:

Conduct Forest Resource Assessments; Mark and Cruise Timber. Services performed will assist the National Forest’s Silviculture Program in implementing their forest management plans.

• Marks Timber in accordance with silvicultural prescriptions (leave tree, cut tree shelterwood, crop tree release, etc.)
• Cruises Timber in accordance with Regional Timber Cruising Standards and the National Forest cruising guide
• Performs Stand Examinations to determine species composition and basal areas
• Locates remote field sites using aerial photographs, topographic maps, compass, and GPS;
• Work independently and make technical interpretations of the guide procedures for Application under rough conditions
• Record all measurements utilizing a personal data recorder, uploads and edits data, and completes accurate and concise plot summaries of all field visits
• Coordinates with landowners to gain necessary access to plots
• Collects specific plot data which can include: latitude/longitude, aspect, slope %, site index, species, DBH, height
• Use standard forest measurement tools such as diameter tape, tree calipers, laser, clinometer, prism, compass, and increment borer.

Sound like you?

Associates or Bachelor’s Degree in Forestry, Biology, Botany, Biometrics, Remote Sensing, or related Natural Resources field with 1 year of prior natural resource data collection experience.

• Ability to self-motivate and manage time;
• Ability to work independently at all times;
• Able to work in all weather conditions;
• Proficient knowledge of GPS operation in the field.
• Have basic computer skills (PDRs).
• Ability to carry heavy loads in rugged terrain

Must have the ability to be mobile and travel to remote locations and provide your own transportation to and from the worksite with a dependable high clearance vehicle.