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Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry — Maine Forest Service, Forest Protection entry pay
What this agency pays a new officer to start, and how that compares with the rest of the country.
Entry pay onlyEvery salary here is what an officer is paid on day one, out of the academy — base pay on a 40-hour week, with no overtime, shift differential, specialty or education pay counted. Nobody stays on it.
Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry — Maine Forest Service, Forest Protection starts at $58,406 a year — about $28.08 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $9,984 below the median of the 1,681 agencies on this list, and $6,591 below the median for state agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in Maine run about 3% below the national average, so this goes about as far as $60,182 would somewhere at average prices — $1,775 more than the headline figure. That average hides a wide spread: utilities at 135, where goods are 97. Based on state-wide price levels, because this agency is not tied to a single metro area, from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, 2024. The salary above is what the employer publishes; this line is our arithmetic on it, and nothing on this site is ranked on it.
What Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry — Maine Forest Service, Forest Protection says about itself
The mission of Forest Protection is to protect Maine’s forest resources and homes from wildfire, respond to disasters and emergencies and to enhance the safe, sound, and responsible management of the forest for this and future generations.
What Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry — Maine Forest Service, Forest Protection does
Maine Forest Rangers perform investigative and protective-services work involving detection, prevention and suppression of wildfires and enforcement of forestry, environmental and conservation laws. Duties include patrol, investigation of suspicious fires and suspected criminal activity, enforcement actions and prosecution of violations across the state's forest-protection system.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 8 August 2026. State of Maine Bureau of Human Resources — Forest Ranger II statewide recruitment; Maine Forest Service — open the source document
$58,406.40.
Entry-level base salary only. Overtime, bonuses, education incentives, shift
differentials, locality pay and lateral rates are excluded, so most officers earn more
than this.
How this level compares
Where Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry — Maine Forest Service, Forest Protection sits is partly about the agency and partly about which level of policing it belongs to. The three levels do not pay the same.
| Level | Lowest | Median | Highest | Agencies |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Municipal | $35,006 | $71,287 | $163,619 | 1046 |
| County | $36,492 | $65,374 | $132,263 | 416 |
| Special jurisdiction | $31,200 | $60,195 | $107,954 | 69 |
| State | $33,994 | $64,998 | $102,692 | 143 |
| Federal | $70,477 | $73,502 | $86,530 | 5 |
| Territory | $16,640 | $28,236 | $43,354 | 9 |
Federal agencies pay the most to start
The middle federal agency starts at $73,502 — about $2,200 more than the middle municipal agency and about $8,100 more than the middle county agency and about $13,300 more than the middle special jurisdiction agency and about $8,500 more than the middle state agency and about $45,300 more than the middle territory agency. Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry — Maine Forest Service, Forest Protection starts at $58,406, so $6,592 below the state middle.
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How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry — Maine Forest Service, Forest Protection officer make?
Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry — Maine Forest Service, Forest Protection starts a new officer on $58,406 a year, about $28.08 an hour on a 2,080-hour year. That is base salary before overtime, bonuses, education incentives, shift differentials and locality pay, so most serving officers earn more. The figure comes from State of Maine Bureau of Human Resources — Forest Ranger II statewide recruitment; Maine Forest Service.
Is that good pay for a police officer in Maine?
It ranks #19 of 19 agencies we have verified in Maine — 0 pay less, 18 pay more in the state — and #1,302 of 1,681 nationally. Against the national median it is $9,984 below, and against other state agencies $6,591 below.
Compare with another department
Put Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry — Maine Forest Service, Forest Protection side by side with any other agency on the site — the two salaries, what each is worth once local prices are counted, and which comes out ahead.
The agencies either side of it
Other agencies in ME
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs Maine | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rockland Police Department | Municipal | 19 | $77,896 | +$19,490 | #459 |
| 2 | Biddeford Police Department | Municipal | 45 | $76,482 | +$18,075 | #494 |
| 3 | Westbrook Police Department | Municipal | 47 | $73,736 | +$15,330 | #604 |
| 4 | Falmouth Police Department | Municipal | 19 | $71,344 | +$12,938 | #704 |
| 5 | Bath Police Department | Municipal | 18 | $71,011 | +$12,605 | #721 |
| 6 | York County Sheriff's Office | County | 23 | $70,628 | +$12,222 | #741 |
| 7 | Freeport Police Department | Municipal | 17 | $69,306 | +$10,899 | #798 |
| 8 | Windham Police Department | Municipal | 28 | $69,251 | +$10,844 | #802 |
| 9 | Bangor Police Department | Municipal | 82 | $69,181 | +$10,774 | #803 |
| 10 | Auburn Police Department | Municipal | 51 | $69,000 | +$10,594 | #815 |
| 11 | Augusta Police Department | Municipal | 44 | $67,371 | +$8,965 | #901 |
| 12 | Portland Police Department | Municipal | 131 | $65,874 | +$7,467 | #973 |
Base pay is only part of the year
Whatever the figure above, the rotation is what decides your year — which weekends you lose, when the changeovers land, what you can plan around. Save yours once and BlueShifts shows it a year ahead, with the off-duty jobs you take and what each one paid.
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