Foresters (Forester)

Full Time

  Colorado State Forest Service (CSFS)

  Colorado, Colorado, United States

6 vacancies available, located at: Canon City, Durango, Franktown, Gunnison, La Veta, and the State Forest in Gould

The Colorado State Forest Service is an agency of Colorado State University, and is housed organizationally, in the Warner College of Natural Resources. The CSFS also staffs the Division of Forestry for the Colorado Department of Natural Resources. The CSFS has field offices throughout the state, organized within 4 Areas with a State Office located in Fort Collins on one of the foothills campuses of CSU.

Individual staff members take the lead on one or more program areas and all staff members are expected to assist each other as needed for successful, efficient and effective delivery of services and programs.

Position Summary:

Under the supervision of a Supervisory Forester, the Forester position will be the lead and serve as the representative for one or more of the following program areas:

• Forest management
• Forest agriculture
• Forest stewardship planning
• Urban and community forestry
• Wildfire mitigation & fuels treatment
• State trust land forest management
• Insect and disease
• Seasonal crew hiring and oversight
• Firewise
• Special projects as assigned
• Community Wildfire Protection Plans
• Grant program management
• Outreach & education programs
• State parks forest management
• Pile burning on state lands
• Community/HOA assistance
• Federal, state, and local government forest management projects

Grant programs this position will administer include but are not limited to: Colorado Forest Restoration, State & Private Forestry, State Fire Assistance, Community Assistance Funding on Adjacent Lands, and other State and Federal grants.

This position will provide professional, science-based assistance to local landowners regarding forest health (insects, disease, and wildfire mitigation), and prepare program related reports. In addition, these positions will also provide assistance to other staff in additional program areas including: Federal land forest management through the Good Neighbor Authority and facilities maintenance.

At times, these positions will develop service agreements with landowners by creating scopes of work, assessing project budgets, resources, and personnel, deciding the technical requirements needed for the agreement, administration of science-based forest management activities and obtaining appropriate signatures. These positions will lead project work teams, train and mentor staff members, develop and manage program and project budgets up to $250,000, create detailed work plans, serve as acting Supervisory Forester as assigned, and participate on agency committees. The position must have a thorough knowledge of silviculture, best management practices, insect and disease identification, pest management, wildfire mitigation and basic wildland fire suppression.

These positions are expected to provide professional services, education and outreach to landowners and cooperators/partners through written and verbal communication. Utilizing feedback from relevant sources to evaluate options and implement solutions is also critical to this position.

Required Job Qualifications:

• A bachelor’s degree (or greater) upon hire in forestry, another natural resources program or related degree will be considered.
• A minimum of two years professional forestry experience. 
• Must have a valid driver’s license or the ability to obtain a driver’s license or access to a licensed driver by the employment start date.

Preferred Job Qualifications:

•A Society of American Foresters (SAF) accredited Bachelor’s or Master’s degree.
•Four years of professional forestry experience. 
• Experience giving public presentations.
• Committed to quality, demonstrated excellent customer service ethic, professionalism and safety.
• Demonstrated experience with participation on teams, committees and other special assignments, as well as the ability to work independently, be a self-starter with strong negotiation skills.
• Experience with contracts, agreements, and grant management.
• Lead program and/or project management experience.
• Excellent verbal and written communication and interpersonal skills.
• Proficient with ArcGIS data management, capable of using ArcMap compatible GIS/GPSunits to collect field data and ability to manipulate data in ArcMap.
• Experience in western United States forest management techniques in the following areas: silviculture; harvesting systems; forest management planning; wildfire hazard mitigation; wildfire suppression; prescribed fire; forest insect and disease detection, prevention, and suppression; urban and community forestry; windbreaks; outreach and education.
• Basic field forestry experience (cruising, prescription development, timber marking, timber sale and/or contract administration).
• Demonstrated skills in writing forest management plans, timber sale layout and administration, and budget preparation and administration.
• Experience with wildfire suppression, preferably in the wildland/urban interface and a current Incident Qualifications Card, or have the ability to obtain one, at the National Wildfire Coordinating Group (NWCG) qualifications level of Firefighter Type 2 or above.
• Completion of ATV/and/or UTV Operator safety training.
• Completion of S-212 Power Saws certification.

Full Job Description on website - Apply Now for details

Compensation

$44,000 - $46,000, commensurate with experience