Glossary
Forest and Conservation Worker Terms & Vocabulary
15 essential forest and conservation worker terms with plain-English definitions: the vocabulary you’ll hear in training and on day one.
Key forest and conservation worker vocabulary
These 15 terms come up constantly in forest and conservation worker training, on the job and in interviews. Knowing them helps you follow instructions, document accurately and sound prepared.
- Erosion control
- Preventing soil loss.
- Fuel break
- A strip cleared to slow fire.
- GPS waypoint
- A recorded location.
- Invasive species
- Non-native plants that spread aggressively.
- Job hazard analysis
- A review of risks before work.
- McLeod
- A rake and hoe tool for fire lines.
- Prescribed fire
- Planned, controlled burning.
- Pulaski
- A combination ax and hoe tool.
- Reforestation
- Replanting forests.
- Riparian zone
- Land along streams.
- Sawyer
- A chainsaw operator.
- Seedling
- A young tree for planting.
- Silviculture
- Managing forest growth.
- Thinning
- Removing trees to reduce density.
- Water bar
- A trail structure that diverts water.
Practice these terms
Test yourself with the free Forest and Conservation Worker practice test: it includes vocabulary questions built from this list. For a complete course, see Forest and Conservation Worker training.
Browse terms from every career in our career glossary.