Forester (Forester)

  Department of the Interior

  Coos Bay, Oregon, United States

Forester (O & C Lands)

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Bureau of Land Management

Duties

This position serves as a Forester in the Field Office of the Coos Bay District.

The purpose of this position is the lead for the Field Office Silviculture Program with responsibility for development and operation of the reforestation program and is responsible for development, implementation and tracking of the program work plan. The incumbent will plan, coordinate, and perform complex technical and leadership duties in support of forestry oriented, multiple use land management programs. It is critical to the successful accomplishment of the Field Office and District long-range forest management program. The incumbent works with the Supervisor to assure that adequate resources are being directed to the program and inform of program progress or problems and important developments in direction and policy.

Plans, coordinates, manages, and evaluates the area forest regeneration program. Prescribes silvicultural and site preparation treatments based on field exams of stand conditions and other resource values. As Contracting Officers Representative, inspects all phases of reforestation contracts. Oversees the areas field monitoring and quality control of all reforestation projects through stand establishment. Writes silvicultural prescriptions and contract provisions for vegetation management activities.

Contract Administration: prepares a variety of silvicultural service contracts. Contacts must fully implement accepted plans, agency policies. As COR, inspects and monitors all phases of reforestation, vegetation management and tree improvement contracts. Environmental Assessment Preparation.

Team leader or member of ID teams that develop and design projects for Field Office forest management program. Identifies forest management activities on specific tracts which result in the Field Office meeting its ASQ and RMP commitment. Prepares forest management alternative, evaluations, and recommendations for environmental assessments (EA). Ensures that they are incorporated in the plans and the final EA. Reviews final EAs for content and quality. Forestry specialist for ID project planning and reviews.

Job Requirements

Key Requirements

U.S. Citizenship is required;

Be sure to read the "How to Apply" and "Required Documents" Sections;

You cannot hold an active real estate license; nor can you

have an interest or hold stocks in firms with interest in Federal Land;

Direct Deposit Required;

Background Investigation is required.

Qualifications

Specialized Experience Requirements:

In order to be rated as qualified for this position, we must be able to determine that you meet the specialized experience requirement - please be sure to include this information in your resume. To be creditable, this experience must have been equivalent in difficulty and complexity to the next lower grade level of the position to be filled.

Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religious; spiritual; community, student, social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.

You must meet all qualification requirements by the closing date of the announcement.

In addition to meeting the basic entry requirement, applicants must have specialized experience and/or directly related education of the position to be found qualified. To be creditable, this experience must have been equivalent in difficulty and complexity to the next lower grade. Specialized experience for the GS-09 Forester: 1 year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-07 level in forestry related work. At this level, Foresters independently perform recurring assignments that are more difficult & complex than those performed by a recent graduate. Examples: experience which provided knowledge of forest management principles and practices as well as related laws, regulations and policies sufficient to serve as a member of a forest planning and timber sale preparation team and/or as a member of an interdisciplinary team developing and designing projects for a forest management program; OR 2 years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to a master`s degree or master`s or equivalent graduate degree in the field of forestry or directly related fields of study; OR have an equivalent combination of the type and level of experience and education described above. Only graduate level education in excess of the first year may be combined with experience.

Specialized experience for the GS-11 Forester: 1 year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-09 level in forestry related work. At this level, work assignments require the forester to determine approaches and solutions using professional knowledge or experience of forestry operations. Examples include experience which provided knowledge and skill in applying forest management principles and practices as well as related laws, regulation and policies sufficient to support forestry-oriented, multiple-use land management programs such as trespass, public coordination, contracting, survey and records, silviculture, cruising/appraising and forest products sales; OR 3 years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to a Ph.D. degree or Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree in the field of forestry or directly related fields of study; OR have an equivalent combination of the type and level of experience and education described above. Only graduate level education in excess of the first two years may be combined with experience.

Basic Requirement: A bachelor's degree in forestry; or a related subject-matter field that included a total of at least 30 semester hours in any combination of biological, physical, or mathematical sciences or engineering, of which at least 24 semester hours of course work were in forestry.

The curriculum must have included courses in each of the following areas:

(1) Management of Renewable Resources -- study of the science and art of managing renewable resources to attain desired results. Examples of creditable courses in this area include silviculture, forest management operations, timber management, wildland fire science or fire management, utilization of forest resources, forest regulation, recreational land management, watershed management, and wildlife or range habitat management;

(2) Forest Biology -- study of the classification, distribution, characteristics, and identification of forest vegetation, and the interrelationships of living organisms to the forest environment. Examples of creditable courses in this area include dendrology, forest ecology, silvics, forest genetics, wood structure and properties, forest soils, forest entomology, and forest pathology; and (3) Forest Resource Measurements and Inventory -- sampling, inventory, measurement, and analysis techniques as applied to a variety of forest resources. Examples of creditable courses include forest biometrics, forest mensuration, forest valuation, statistical analysis of forest resource data, renewable natural resources inventories and analysis, and photogrammetry or remote sensing.

-OR- 

Combination of education and experience -- courses equivalent to a major in forestry, or at least 30 semester hours in any combination of biological, physical, or mathematical sciences or engineering, of which at least 24 semester hours were in forestry. The requirements for diversification of the 24 semester hours in forestry are the same as above, plus appropriate experience or additional education.

Compensation

Salary: $49,765 to $78,270 / per year

---