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Range Technician

Department of Agriculture
Forest Service
This job announcement has closed

Summary

This position is located within a National Forest. The primary purpose of this position is to perform technical work in support of the range function.

Overview

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Hiring complete
Open & closing dates
09/29/2022 to 10/06/2022
Salary
$15.90 to - $15.90 per hour
Pay scale & grade
GS 4
Locations
Many vacancies in the following locations:
Alpine, AZ
Lakeside, AZ
Overgaard, AZ
Scottsdale, AZ
Remote job
No
Telework eligible
No
Travel Required
Occasional travel - You may be expected to travel for this position.
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Appointment type
Temporary
Work schedule
Full-time
Service
Competitive
Promotion potential
None
Job family (Series)
Supervisory status
No
Security clearance
Other
Drug test
No
Announcement number
23-TEMP3-R3-2308-4DT-AW
Control number
680276000

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Duties

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  • Assists specialists in carrying out rangeland management support projects.
  • Assesses range allotments for appropriate time to graze, compliance with management plans and operating instructions, number of livestock, herding procedures, salting, range improvement, maintenance, and the need for additional range improvements.
  • Inspects allotments before and after grazing for trespass stock and if found, gathers necessary brands, numbers, dates, and locations. Reports non-compliance or other management needs to the supervisor.
  • Performs a variety of computations and assessment of standard rangeland management data to prepare the data for interpretative use of inclusion in reports.
  • Prepares charts, graphs, and/or reports using well-established specified procedures.
  • Notes and reports on conditions such as range utilization, grazing impact, soil erosion, violations, or needed maintenance.
  • Performs rangeland management support work, making a number of measurements using a variety of instruments.
  • Performs computations that require judgment and knowledge of the nature of the sources and use of the data.
  • Estimates production and potential production of a site based on various sampling techniques.
  • Estimates the utilization of available forage by all grazing animals and determines as closely as possible the percent of use by each class of animal.
  • Using accepted indicator plants, determines range readiness and advises supervisor.
  • Participates in noxious plant control, seeding, or similar projects by flagging boundaries, operating equipment, and carrying out kill studies.
  • Identifies plant specimens in the field and collects and prepares specimens.
  • Identifies plants and noxious weeds and determines how they grow.
  • Applies the proper chemicals to control noxious weeds.
  • Serves as a crew member or leader on range improvement construction and revegetation projects that include construction of fences, cattle guards, water developments, repairing fences, prescribed burning, seeding and fertilizing.
  • Learns to select and measure transects by working with a higher-grade employee.
  • Counts plants, measures distances, observes plant and soil conditions, and records data.
  • Transfers data from field notes to maps or aerial photos to show vegetative types, conditions and trends, and soil types.
  • Compiles data for use in plans and records.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

  • You must be a US Citizen or US National.
  • Males born after 12-31-59 must be registered for Selective Service.
  • Subject to satisfactory adjudication of background investigation and/or fingerprint check.
  • Direct Deposit Per Public Law 104-134 all Federal employees are required to have federal payments made by direct deposit to a financial institution of your choosing.
  • Must be 18 years of age.
  • Successfully pass the E-Verify employment verification check. To learn more about E-Verify, including your rights and responsibilities, visit e-Verify.

Qualifications

In order to qualify, you must meet the eligibility and qualifications requirements as defined below by the closing date of the announcement. For more information on the qualifications for this position, visit the Office of Personnel Management's General Schedule Qualification Standards.

Your application and resume must clearly show that you possess the experience requirements. Transcripts must be provided for qualifications based on education. Provide course descriptions as necessary.

GS-04: Applicants must have six months of general experience AND six months of specialized experience that is directly related to the work of the position OR successful completion of 2 years of study that included at least 12 semester hours in any combination of courses such as forestry, agriculture, crop or plant science, range management or conservation, wildlife management, watershed management, soil science, natural resources (except marine fisheries and oceanography), outdoor recreation management, civil or forest engineering, or wildland fire science (no more than 3 semester hours in mathematics is creditable) OR an appropriate combination of experience and education above high school as described above. The education must have been obtained in an accredited business, secretarial or technical school, junior college, college or university and include courses that are related to the occupation of the position.

Examples of General Experience includes: Performed farm/ranch labor, such as feeding and tending livestock or general maintenance of farm/ranch facilities; Cleaned tools and equipment; Worked in a greenhouse or nursery moving, watering, and tending plants and performing other general labor; Worked on a landscape or construction crew; Other work experience, paid or unpaid, that demonstrates an ability to learn and perform the work of this position.

Examples of specialized experience includes: Work in the conservation, regulation, and use of public or federally controlled lands for grazing. Range research activities. Work in the operation of a livestock ranch or in assisting in the management or preservation of lands comparable to the public range. Range or forest fire control, prevention, or suppression work.

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.

To receive consideration for this position, you must provide updated required documents and meet all qualification requirements by the closing date of this announcement.

Additional information

PLEASE NOTE: This vacancy is being used to fill positions for FY2023 Temporary Employment Hiring season. The expected start date for this position will be between April 9, 2023 and June 17, 2023.

By selecting the "Location Negotiable" option during the application process, implies your willingness to be considered for any official duty location listed on this announcement and/or those duty locations not listed for this Regional announcement. Pay rates vary depending on location. The salary shown is for the Rest of the U.S. See OPM.gov for additional information on pay rates.

This position is temporary, has a Not-to-Exceed date and will be filled for up to 6 months or as a not to exceed (NTE) 1 year, however an extension of the appointment may be possible without further competition. The appointment may also end early due to lack of work or lack of funds.

Applicants who apply under this job opportunity announcement agree to have their application, associated documents and applicable personal information shared with other groups within the Region who have vacancies within the same occupational series, grade, full performance level and in any of the geographic location(s) listed on the announcement. Applying to this announcement does not replace the need to apply to other job opportunity announcements for which you wish to receive consideration.

The duty station for this position will be at one of the duty locations listed in this announcement. Salary range as shown is the locality pay Rest of U.S. (RUS). Pay rates vary by location. Please visit the Office of Personnel Management's website for additional information on pay rates.

The USDA Forest Service has legislative authority to recruit and fill Permanent (Career/Career-Conditional), Temporary, and Term Appointments under the USDA Demonstration Project. Under this authority, any U.S. citizen may apply.

Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) or Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP): To exercise selection priority for this vacancy, CTAP/ICTAP candidates must meet the basic eligibility requirements and all selective factors. CTAP/ICTAP eligible must meet the agency's definition for a quality candidate as provided in the How You Will Be Evaluated section of this announcement to be considered.

If you are retired from the Federal Government and are selected for this vacancy, your retirement annuity may be offset from your pay.

This position is not eligible for telework.

Availability of government housing and federal day care facilities will vary by location.

Positions filled from this announcement may be a bargaining or a non-bargaining unit position represented by either NFFE, AFGE or NAGE.

How you will be evaluated

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

You will be evaluated in accordance with the category rating procedure as defined in the USDA Demonstration Project Plan. Applicants who meet the basic minimum qualification requirements established for the position will be placed in the Eligible category. Eligible applicants will be further evaluated against criteria for placement in the Quality category. This evaluation is based on the level of your experience, education, and/or training as determined by your responses to the Assessment Questionnaire. Applicants with veterans' preference are listed ahead of applicants who do not have veterans' preference within each category.

Note: If, after reviewing your resume and/or supporting documentation, a determination is made that you have inflated your qualifications and or experience, your score may be adjusted to more accurately reflect your abilities, or you may be found ineligible. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect your rating. Providing inaccurate information on Federal documents could be grounds for non-selection or disciplinary action up to including removal from the Federal service.

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