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Forestry 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 work individually or as a crew member in support of the unit's recreation, timber, silviculture, wildlife, fire, and/or range programs.

Overview

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Hiring complete
Open & closing dates
01/12/2023 to 01/19/2023
Salary
$16.57 to - $16.57 per hour
Pay scale & grade
GS 4
Locations
Many vacancies in the following locations:
Hayfork, CA
McCloud, CA
Location Negotiable After Selection
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-TEMP4-R5-0009-4DT-MM
Control number
699299700

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Duties

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  • Contacts recreational visitors to provide factual information and answers questions about recreation opportunities, rules, regulations, and information on resource management practices on the unit.
  • Collects monies from sale of recreation use permits at designated fee sites. Keeps records of sales, safeguards monies, and unused permits.
  • Performs limited law enforcement duties under supervision of qualified law enforcement officer. Patrols recreation areas to ensure day visitors and campers comply with established rules and regulations. Reports apparent violations to supervisor.
  • As a crew member or leader, performs routine recreation and trail maintenance and cleanup work including repairing minor damage of recreation facilities, i.e., tables, toilets, buildings, signs, fire pits, trails, etc.
  • Assists in trail contract inspection.
  • Marks clearly specified softwood and hardwood trees for cutting as sawlogs, pulpwood, posts, poles, etc., according to prescriptions. Measures tree diameters and heights and observes defects under guidance of supervisor.
  • Traverses proposed timber sale units using plans and prescriptions, topographic maps, aerial photos, compass, Global Positioning System devices, etc. Assists in the layout of logging units, temporary roads, locations, etc.
  • As a member of a timber cruising crew, runs compass lines, paces or measures distances, marks and numbers plots, measures heights and diameters and records data on field data recorders or cards.
  • Leads a small crew measuring and laying out the boundary of small areas designated for planting, site preparation, and timber stand improvement contracts.
  • Performs work or inspects work performed under site preparation, planting, and timber stand improvement contracts following established procedures and which involve standard requirements and are limited in size.
  • Checks planted areas for seedling survival rate and stocking and records information. Calls non-compliance to attention of supervisor.
  • Performs habitat improvement projects, such as site preparation for clearings, construction and installation of fish attractors, nesting boxes, and water developments, planting of areas for establishment of more desirable food or cover, etc.
  • Serves as a skilled member of a fire suppression crew, using a variety of hand tools, power saw, drip torch, backpumps, etc., to suppress fires, or participates in slash disposal or a variety of prescribed burns.
  • Operates two-way radios, telephones, and computer equipment to order and dispatch resources for fire suppression purposes and to exchange information about fire weather and other factors affecting fire management.
  • Orders and dispatches initial attack personnel and equipment in accordance with a pre-planned dispatch system previously established on the Forest.
  • Assists on range analysis and maintenance and construction of range structural improvements.
  • Contacts range permittees and communicates policies and requirements of permit, counts designated permitted livestock to ensure number are in compliance with permit, checks range condition including structures, and checks for trespass livestock.
  • Any violation which cannot be informally resolved on-the-ground is reported to supervisor.
  • Participates in noxious plant control, seeding, or similar projects by flagging boundaries, operating equipment, and carrying out studies. Identifies plant specimens in the field and collects and prepares specimens.
  • Identifies plants and noxious weeds. Applies the proper chemicals to control noxious weeds. Uses botanical key to identify plants encountered during field trips or surveys of forest and range areas. Records field information. Makes measurements.

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: For the GS-4 level: Applicants must have six months of general experience (any type of work that demonstrated the ability to perform the work of the position, or experience that provided a familiarity with the subject matter or processes of the broad subject area of the occupation) 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 include: Performed farm/ranch labor, such as feeding/tending livestock or general maintenance of farm/ranch facilities; Worked in a greenhouse, nursery or landscaping e.g., planting, moving, watering, and tending plants; Worked as an animal caretaker in a laboratory, zoo or pet store; Other work experience, paid or unpaid e.g., volunteer work at a park, youth camp, hospital, community sports league, local fire department, etc.

Examples of specialized experience include: Performed natural resource support work, e.g., forestry, range, park technician, wildland firefighter, or similar jobs; performed routine support assignments in a forestry specialty area, e.g., wilderness, timber, fire prevention/control, etc.

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 June 18, 2023 and September 24, 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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