Environmental Restoration Planners
In short: today's best AI models could do about 19% of this job's working time (projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index) if the work were set up for them, and about 71% by the end of 2028 if progress keeps its long-run pace. The people and hands-on work, about 26% of the time, stays with people.
Collaborate with field and biology staff to oversee the implementation of restoration projects and to develop new products. Process and synthesize complex scientific data into practical strategies for restoration, monitoring or management.
$82,220 a year (for the broader BLS group this job sits in).
A typical 40-hour week
Not yet reviewed task by task- AI could take on8 h
- A person checks AI's work0 h
- Desk work AI can't do yet22 h
- Stays with people10 h
Environmental Restoration Planners, now: of a 40-hour week, AI could take on 8 hours, 0 hours become checking its work, 22 hours are desk work it can't do yet, and 10 hours stay with people.
The largest pieces: Provide technical direction on environmental planning to energy engineers, biologists, geologists, or other professionals working to develop restoration plans or strategies (about 1 h); Identify environmental mitigation alternatives, ensuring compliance with applicable standards, laws, or regulations (under an hour); Develop environmental restoration project schedules and budgets (under an hour).
Estimates for a typical week of this job, if progress keeps its long-run pace, counting work the best models finish four times in five. Every task is below.
of the working time. Now is projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index.
- 74%
- 10%
- 17%
of the work: Anthropic's measure of what people already bring to Claude at work (2025). It counts help with part of a task, so it can be higher than the share within reach.
On the chosen pace and reliability. Estimate.
Share of the working time within reach, now to 2030
Change assumptionsHide assumptionsLong-run pace, four in five
What each choice means: , , , , . Every pace starts from .
At this date and pace, models finish tasks up to 2.4 work days long four times in five.
How far this has come
With GPT-4, measured in March 2023, 0% of this job's working time was within reach at . With Claude 3.7 Sonnet, measured in February 2025, 0%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 2%. Today's estimate: 19%.
A backcast: today's task data with the best model METR had measured by each date. It shows how fast the models have moved, not what anyone forecast at the time.
Measured use over time
Of the Claude.ai conversations Anthropic sampled and tied to a work task, no reportable share went to this job's tasks in May 2026; 0 of its 23 tasks showed up. Within each of Anthropic's methods, never across a change: 0.0028% to 0.0064% (released February and March 2025).
Each release
| Conversations | Share | Rank | Tasks seen |
|---|---|---|---|
| Released February 2025 | 0.0028% | 665 of 708 | 1 of 23 |
| Released March 2025 | 0.0064% | 558 of 703 | 1 of 23 |
| The week of Aug 4, 2025 (released September 2025) | none | n/a | 0 of 23 |
| The week of Nov 13, 2025 (released January 2026) | 0.0018% | 655 of 672 | 1 of 23 |
| The week of Feb 5, 2026 (released March 2026) | none | n/a | 0 of 23 |
| April 2026 (released June 2026) | none | n/a | 0 of 23 |
| May 2026 (released June 2026) | none | n/a | 0 of 23 |
Measured, not estimated: Anthropic's samples of Claude.ai conversations, each tied by a model to an O*NET task, from the Anthropic Economic Index. It says where Claude's use goes, not how much of this job's working time it covers, so it is not on the same scale as the reach above. The releases differ in their sample, their classifier and the smallest share they report (the June 2026 file rounds each task to a hundredth of a percent, so a smaller task reads as none), which is why a change of method starts a new line. At least 96% of each older release's task-tied use matched this site's tasks, and all of the newest. Claude.ai only, so use through other tools and other companies' models is not in it. Every job ranked.
Robots and the physical work
Anthropic rates 11% of this job's working time as physical work. For 0% of the working time, a robot has been shown doing most of the task somewhere. 0.00 of 3.
- Not physical 89%
- No robot shown 11%
Anthropic's rating, not this site's estimate: Claude Opus 5, searching the web, rated each physical O*NET task by the kind of setting in which a robot it could cite (deployed, sold or demonstrated) does most of the task, weighted by its own estimate of each task's share of the time (What work can robots do?, September 30, 2026, data CC BY 4.0; every job ranked). A robot shown somewhere is not a robot in your building: cost, setup and safety decide that. The share within reach on this page still counts no body work. The robot behind each rated task is under the task below.
The tasks
Sorted by . 23 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plan environmental restoration projects, using biological databases, environmental strategies, and planning software.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 12% | 3.3 work days6.7 h to 1.7 work weeks | 10%Half by Sep 2027 | |
| Develop natural resource management plans, using knowledge of environmental planning or state and federal environmental regulatory requirements.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 12% | 1 work week1.7 work days to 3.3 work weeks | 4%Half by Dec 2027 | |
| Create habitat management or restoration plans, such as native tree restoration and weed control.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 11% | 2.5 work days6.7 h to 1.7 work weeks | 18%Half by Jun 2027 | |
| Plan or supervise environmental studies to achieve compliance with environmental regulations in construction, modification, operation, acquisition, or divestiture of facilities such as power plants.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 10% | 4.2 work days1.7 work days to 2.5 work weeks | Stays with people | |
| Collect and analyze data to determine environmental conditions and restoration needs.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 8% | 2.1 work days6.7 h to 1.3 work weeks | Stays with people | |
| Supervise and provide technical guidance, training, or assistance to employees working in the field to restore habitats.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 7% | 3.3 h1.7 h to 1.7 work days | Stays with people | |
| Identify environmental mitigation alternatives, ensuring compliance with applicable standards, laws, or regulations.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 5% | 1.3 work days3.3 h to 4.2 work days | 44%Half by Dec 2026 | |
| Conduct environmental impact studies to examine the ecological effects of pollutants, disease, human activities, nature, and climate change.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 5% | 1.5 work weeks1.7 work days to 4.2 work weeks | 2%Half by May 2028 | |
| Develop environmental restoration project schedules and budgets.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 5% | 1.3 work days3.3 h to 4.2 work days | 44%Half by Dec 2026 | |
| Provide technical direction on environmental planning to energy engineers, biologists, geologists, or other professionals working to develop restoration plans or strategies.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 4% | 2.5 h50 min to 1 work day | 92%Half by now | |
| Create environmental models or simulations, using geographic information system (GIS) data and knowledge of particular ecosystems or ecological regions.Done yearly or less by most who do it. | 4% | 2.1 work days5 h to 1.3 work weeks | 23%Half by May 2027 | |
| Apply for permits required for the implementation of environmental remediation projects.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 4% | 1.7 work days3.3 h to 1.3 work weeks | 24%Half by May 2027 |
Within reach, per task: the share of the task's time whose instances are short enough for a model to finish at the chosen date, pace and reliability. Half by: the date half of that time comes within reach.
Jobs that share skills with this one
From O*NET's related occupations. Within reach now and by the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.
- Conservation Scientists57% now, 70% by 2028
- Brownfield Redevelopment Specialists and Site Managers18% now, 61% by 2028
- Industrial Ecologists16% now, 88% by 2028
- Range Managers7% now, 34% by 2028
- Environmental Scientists and Specialists, Including Health21% now, 68% by 2028
- Water Resource Specialists24% now, 93% by 2028
Where this job works
The industry groups that employ the most of it (BLS, May 2025). Counts are for the broader BLS group this job sits in.
Where the most of these jobs are
The metro areas with the most people in it (BLS, May 2025). Counts are for the broader BLS group this job sits in.
Questions about this job
- How much of the work of Environmental Restoration Planners is within reach of AI now?
- An estimated 19% of the working time is within reach of AI models now and 71% by the end of 2028, on METR's long-run pace at four in five (53% to 73% across the three paces the site shows). Within reach means a model could finish work that long at that reliability. It is not a forecast of jobs lost or of savings.
- Which tasks of Environmental Restoration Planners come within reach first?
- Weighted by the time each takes, the tasks with the most within reach now (projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index) are: Provide technical direction on environmental planning to energy engineers, biologists, geologists, or other professionals working to develop restoration plans or strategies (92% of the task's time now, 100% by the end of 2028); Identify environmental mitigation alternatives, ensuring compliance with applicable standards, laws, or regulations (44% of the task's time now, 100% by the end of 2028); and Develop environmental restoration project schedules and budgets (44% of the task's time now, 100% by the end of 2028).
- Which tasks of Environmental Restoration Planners stay with people?
- Tasks that are people work or body work are not counted as within reach at any date. The largest: Plan or supervise environmental studies to achieve compliance with environmental regulations in construction, modification, operation, acquisition, or divestiture of facilities such as power plants; Collect and analyze data to determine environmental conditions and restoration needs; and Supervise and provide technical guidance, training, or assistance to employees working in the field to restore habitats. Together such tasks are about 26% of the working time.
- Do people already use AI for the work of Environmental Restoration Planners?
- In the Claude.ai conversations Anthropic sampled for May 2026, no reportable share went to this job's tasks. Anthropic's labor market measure puts the share of the job's tasks seen in real Claude use at work at 5%. These are measures of use, not of how much of the work AI could finish, and they cover Claude only.
- Can robots do the physical work of Environmental Restoration Planners?
- Anthropic's robot exposure rating (September 2026) finds 11% of the working time is physical work, and that a robot has been shown doing most of the task, somewhere, for 0% of the working time. Its index is 0.00 of 3. A robot shown somewhere is not one in every workplace; this site's own estimates still count no physical work as within reach.
- How is this estimated?
- From the 23 tasks O*NET lists for the occupation, each with an estimated length checked against GDPval and a share of the working time, each classed as desk, people or body work, and METR's measurements of how long a task the best AI models can finish, carried forward to the date from the latest, Claude Mythos Preview (early) in April 2026. Data checked November 10, 2026.
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