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Forester

Department of the Interior
Bureau of Land Management
This job announcement has closed

Summary

This position is located in Albuquerque District Office, Rio Puerco Field Office.

This position is concurrently open to Merit Promotion eligibles under Announcement Number BLM-NM-24-12321304-MP-OPM.

Overview

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Hiring complete
Open & closing dates
03/04/2024 to 03/15/2024
Salary
$49,541 to - $78,776 per year
Pay scale & grade
GS 7 - 9
Location
1 vacancy in the following location:
Albuquerque, NM
Remote job
No
Telework eligible
Yes—as determined by the agency policy.
Travel Required
Occasional travel - You may be expected to travel for this position.
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Appointment type
Permanent
Work schedule
Full-time
Service
Competitive
Promotion potential
11
Job family (Series)
Supervisory status
No
Security clearance
Not Required
Drug test
No
Position sensitivity and risk
Non-sensitive (NS)/Low Risk
Trust determination process
Announcement number
BLM-NM-24-12321302-DE-OPM
Control number
779303300

Duties

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The incumbent in this position serves as a Forester in a Field Office in a Public Domain and Land Utilization State. The position is established to plan, coordinate and perform complex technical and leadership duties in support of multiple use management programs.

This position is critical to the successful accomplishment of the Field Office's long range woodland management program, meeting demand in a sustainable manner, and providing solutions to issues like compliance and adverse impacts to resources. The incumbent in this position serves as a specialist or team lead/member on designated woodland management projects for other resource benefit

  • Assist in the development of harvest areas to meet objectives.
  • Help develop long range woodland management plans applicable to the sale of Special Forest Products.
  • Research solutions for environmental protection problems such as road location, harvesting, logging, site preparation, fire protection, and fuels/slash treatment.
  • Prepare data, briefings, and/or trainings related to forest management.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

  • U.S. Citizenship required
  • May be required to complete background investigation and drug screening.
  • Meet Selective Service Registration Act requirement for males
  • Must provide resume and supporting documents (See required documents).
  • You cannot hold an active real estate license, nor can you have an interest or hold stocks in firms with interest in Federal Lands.
  • If you are a new employee or supervisor in the Federal government, you will be required to complete a one-year probationary period.
  • Selectee will be required to participate in the Direct Deposit Electronics Funds Transfer Program.
  • You will be required to obtain and maintain a valid state driver's license.
  • You may be required to travel overnight away from home up to 5 nights per month. You must obtain a government charge card for travel purposes.
  • This is a bargaining unit position represented by the National Treasury Employees Union Chapter 340

Qualifications

In order to qualify, you must meet Both the Basic Education Requirement AND the Additional specialized experience and/or education requirements described below. Your resume must clearly describe your relevant experience. If qualifying based on education, a copy of your unofficial transcripts must be provided with your application.

BASIC EDUCATION REQUIREMENT-Successfully completed a bachelor's degree or higher 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. (NOTE: You must submit a copy of your transcripts with conferred date). The curriculum must have been sufficiently diversified to include courses in each of the following areas:

  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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 shown above, plus appropriate experience or additional education. When combining education with experience, first determine your total qualifying education as a percentage of the education required for the grade level; then determine your experience as a percentage of the experience required for the grade level; finally, add the two percentages. The total percentage must equal at least 100 percent to qualify. (NOTE: You must submit copies of your college transcripts and your resume must indicate how you meet this requirement).

In addition to meeting the basic requirement, you must also possess experience and/or directly related education in the amounts listed below.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS: To be considered minimally qualified for this position, you must demonstrate that you have the required specialized experience and/or education for the respective grade level in which you are applying:

Specialized Experience GS-07 : One year of specialized experience comparable in scope and responsibility to the GS-05 grade level in the Federal service (obtained either in the private or public sectors) performing the following: (1) reviewing timber sale and silvicultural service contracts; (2) compiling long range forest management plans; (3) writing standard assessments to comply with environmental policies, (4) examining silvicultural and site preparation treatments based on field examinations.

OR, Education GS-07: Successful completion of one (1) full academic year of graduate level education with major study in forestry, or related disciplines appropriate to the position. One year of graduate education is the number of credit hours that your graduate school has determined to represent one academic year of full-time study. Such study may have been performed on a full-time or part-time basis. If you cannot obtain your graduate school's definition of one year of graduate study, 18 semester hours (or 27 quarter hours) is considered as satisfying the requirement for one year of full-time graduate study. (Note: You must submit copies of your college transcripts).

OR, Combination of Experience/Education GS-07: Successful completion of a combination of specialized experience and graduate level education described above, when combined, equals 100% of the total requirement. This education must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of this position. (Note: You must submit a copy of your college transcripts AND your resume must demonstrate how you meet this requirement, otherwise you may be found ineligible.)

OR, Superior Academic Achievement (SAA) GS-07: Successfully completed all the requirements for a bachelor's degree with major study in forestry; or related disciplines appropriate to the position and meets eligibility under the Superior Academic Achievement (SAA) provision. S.A.A. is based on (1) Class standing-applicants must be in the upper third of the graduating class, based on completed courses; or (2) Grade-Point Average-applicants must have a grade-point average of 3.0 or higher out of a possible 4.0 based on 4 years of education, or as computed based on courses completed during the final 2 years of the curriculum; or 3.5 or higher out of a possible 4.0 based on the average of the required courses completed in the major field completed during the final 2 years of the curriculum; or (3) Election to membership in a National Scholastic Honor Society - membership in a freshman honor society cannot be used to meet the requirements of this provision. (Note: You must submit copies of your college transcripts with conferred date).

Specialized Experience GS-09: One year of specialized experience comparable in scope and responsibility to the GS-07 grade level in the Federal service (obtained either in the private or public sectors) performing the following: (1) reviewing timber sale and silvicultural service contracts; (2) compiling long range forest management plans; (3) writing standard assessments to comply with environmental policies, (4) examining silvicultural and site preparation treatments based on field examinations. (NOTE: Your resume must indicate how you meet this requirement, or you may be found ineligible).

OR, Education GS-09: Successful completion of (2) two years year of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to a master's degree or master's or equivalent graduate degree from an accredited college or university with major study in forestry; or related disciplines appropriate to the position from an accredited college or university. (Note: You must submit copies of your college transcripts).

OR, Combination of Experience/Education GS-09: Successful completion of a combination of specialized experience and graduate level education described above, when combined, equals 100% of the total requirement. Please note only graduate education in excess of one year (18 semester hours) may be used to qualify under this option. This education must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of this position. (Note: You must submit a copy of your college transcripts AND your resume must demonstrate how you meet this requirement, otherwise you may be found ineligible.)

Education

Applicants must meet all qualifications and eligibility requirements by the closing date of the announcement.

IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE MAY NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. If your resume does not support your questionnaire answers, we will not allow credit for your response(s).

Volunteer Experience: 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 include months, years and hours per week worked to receive credit for your work and/or volunteer experience. One year of specialized experience is equivalent to 12 months at 40 hours per week. Part-time hours are prorated. You will not receive any credit for experience that does not indicate exact hours per week or is listed as "varies".


To qualify based on education, you must submit a legible copy of transcripts from an accredited institution with your name, school name, credit hours, course level, major(s), and grade-point average or class ranking. Transcripts do not need to be official, but if you are selected for this position and you used your education to qualify, you must provide official transcripts before you begin work.

If you are using education completed in foreign colleges or universities to meet qualification requirements, you must show that your education credentials have been evaluated by a private organization that specializes in interpretation of foreign education programs and such education has been deemed equivalent to that gained in an accredited U.S. education program; or full credit has been given for the courses at a U.S. accredited college or university.

PASS/FAIL COURSES: If more than 10 percent of your undergraduate course work (credit hours) were taken on a pass/fail basis, your claim of superior academic achievement must be based upon class standing or membership in an honor society.

GRADUATE EDUCATION: One academic year of graduate education is considered to be the number of credits hours your graduate school has determined to represent one academic year of full-time study. Such study may have been performed on a full-time or part-time basis. If you cannot obtain your graduate school's definition of one year of graduate study, 18 semester hours (or 27 quarter hours) should be considered as satisfying the requirement for one year of full-time graduate study.

Additional information

Promotion to the full performance level is neither guaranteed nor implied and will be based solely on your ability to satisfactorily perform the work of the position, existing work at the higher grade level, and recommendation by the position's supervisor.

Physical Demands: The work of the position is performed in an office. However, there is also considerable field activity involved in the performance of this work. Field work requires long periods of time walking over steep and rough terrain, extremely dense brush, logging slash and tree covered terrain, often wet or occasionally covered with snow.

Working Conditions: The work of this position is sometimes performed in an office setting with adequate lighting and temperatures. However, a considerable amount of time is spent in performing field work. The field work is performed outdoors. Exposure to extremes of hot, cold, rainy or snowy weather is common. The position requires operation of motor vehicles on narrow mountainous roads as necessary to get to and from job locations in the field. Protective gear is necessary for field work.


The Bureau of Land Management has determined that the duties of this position are suitable for telework and the selectee may be allowed to telework with supervisor approval.

Certain incentives (such as Recruitment, Relocation or Student Loan Repayment) may be authorized to eligible selectees. If eligible and qualified, you may be offered a recruitment or relocation incentive. The decision to offer an incentive will be made on a case-by-case basis and is neither promised nor guaranteed. For information visit: Recruitment Incentive or Relocation Incentive or Student Loan Repayment.

Interagency Career Transition Assistance Program (ICTAP) or Career Transition Assistance Program (CTAP): For information on how to apply as an ICTAP or CTAP eligible see http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/workforce-restructuring/employee-guide-to-career-transition/ctap_guideline.pdf. To be well-qualified and exercise selection priority for this vacancy, displaced Federal employees must be rated at 90 or above on the rating criteria for this position.

If you are unable to apply online or need to fax a document you do not have in electronic form, please contact San Antonio Services Branch at SASBMailbox@opm.gov or 816-541-8101.

How you will be evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

A review of your resume and supporting documentation will be made and compared against your responses to the Occupational Questionnaire to determine if you are qualified for this job. If your resume is incomplete or does not support the responses provided in the Occupational Questionnaire, or if you fail to submit all required documentation, you will be rated 'ineligible', 'not qualified', or your score may be adjusted accordingly. If a determination is made that you have inflated your qualifications or experience, you may lose consideration for this position. Please follow all instructions carefully; errors or omissions may affect your rating.

You will be evaluated based on how well you meet the qualifications listed in this vacancy announcement. Your qualifications will be evaluated based on your application materials (e.g., resume, supporting documents), the responses you provide on the application questionnaire, and the result of the additional assessments required for this position.

In order to be considered for this position, you must complete all required steps in the process. In addition to the application and application questionnaire, this position requires successful completion of additional assessments, including a subject matter expert resume review. These assessments measure the critical competencies listed below that are required to successfully perform the job.

Candidates will be rated and ranked using Category Rating procedures. These procedures place candidates with veteran's preference above non-preference eligibles within each category. Veterans with a service connected disability of at least 10 percent are listed in the highest quality category, except when the position being filled is scientific or professional at the GS-09 grade level or higher. Under Category Rating, candidates will be rated and ranked into one of three categories:

  • Best Qualified - applicants possessing experience that substantially exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors and are highly proficient in all requirements of the job and can perform effectively in the position
  • Well Qualified - applicants possessing experience that exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors and are proficient in most of the requirements of the job
  • Qualified - applicants possessing experience that meets the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors and are proficient in some, but not all of the requirements of the job.
You will be evaluated on the following competencies:
  • Environmental Engineering
  • Forest Management
  • Project Management
  • Writing

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