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Forestry Technician (Timber Sale Preparation)

Department of Agriculture
Forest Service
This job announcement has closed

Summary

These positions are located in the Pacific Northwest Region, Region 6 throughout Oregon and Washington and will be located at a designated Forest Service Office.

The incumbent leads a small crew performing a variety of timber sale preparation duties that includes timber marking, timber cruising, and sale layout as part of the unit's timber management program.

For additional information about the duties of this position, please contact Michele Holman at michele.holman@usda.gov

Overview

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Hiring complete
Open & closing dates
02/03/2023 to 02/09/2023
This job will close when we have received 150 applications which may be sooner than the closing date. Learn more
Salary
$37,696 to - $46,696 per year

Salary is listed as Rest of United Stated (RUS) locality. Final salary will be determined at the time of selection dependent on the duty location.

Pay scale & grade
GS 5 - 7
Location
many vacancies in the following location:
Location Negotiable After Selection
Remote job
No
Telework eligible
Yes—as determined by the agency policy.
Travel Required
Occasional travel - Travel may be required for site visits, meetings and/or training.
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Appointment type
Permanent
Work schedule
Full-time
Service
Competitive
Promotion potential
7
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
23-R6-GVA-11825981-DP-LM
Control number
704241600

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Duties

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  • Duties listed are at full performance level.
  • Mark or designate harvestable timber for appraisal of timber.
  • Draft timber cruise plans and sample surveys to estimate quality and quantity of timber.
  • Interpret silvicultural prescriptions and marking guides to designate harvestable timer.
  • Perform timber cruising duties including estimating volume, defect and quality timber using standard cruising methods.
  • Inform responsible individual of situations where prescriptions do not fit ground conditions.
  • Provide instruction to apprentice cruisers on measuring timber and cruise methods and techniques for appraisals.
  • Provide technical assistance to specialists in the development of logging plans and preliminary road location.
  • Write reports describing timber sale, resource, topographic features, and compliance of timber marking.
  • Draft cruise plans for use by higher level specialists.
  • Draft sale area maps.
  • Lay out timber sale boundaries in accordance with environmental assessments.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

  • Must be a U.S. Citizen or National.
  • Males born after 12-31-59 must be registered for Selective Service or exempt.
  • Subject to satisfactory adjudication of background investigation and/or fingerprint check.
  • Successful completion of one-year probationary period, unless previously served.
  • Per Public Law 104-134 all Federal employees are required to have federal payments made by direct deposit to their financial institution.
  • 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.

Specialized Experience Requirement:

For the GS-05: You must have one year specialized experience equivalent to the GS-04 in the Federal service. Qualifying specialized experience includes meeting one or more of the following: Performed crew based forestry related support work such as laying out timber harvest boundaries recognizing and applying multiple logging system methods, selected and marked individual trees for harvest using well defined marking guidelines, silviculture prescriptions, and specific instruction and/or assisted in the measurement of limiting distances, tree diameter, tree height, estimation of defect and quality, and related fundamental timber cruising procedures.
OR
bachelor's degree or 4 years of successfully completed education above high school (120 semester/180 quarter hours) with major study in forestry, range management, agriculture, or a subject-matter field directly related to the position, or that included at least 24 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, outdoor recreation management, civil or forest engineering, or wildland fire science (no more than 6 semester hours in mathematics is creditable).
OR
A combination of successfully completed post-high school education (in excess of the first 60 semester / 90 quarter hours) and specialized experience. The education must have been obtained in an accredited college or university and demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work.

For the GS-06: You must have one year specialized experience equivalent to the GS-05 in the Federal service. Qualifying specialized experience includes meeting one or more of the following: Provided support with tree measurements, map reading and compass use, species identification, defect recognition and determination, quality determination, traversing, use of aerial photos, and use of timber cruising tools and techniques; Interpreted silvicultural prescriptions and timber marking guides to designate harvest timber; Measured amount and quantity of timber in designated timber sale areas; Applied instructions issued in a cruise plan; laid out timber sale boundaries for multiple types of logging systems.
OR
One full year (18 semester / 27 quarter hours) of graduate level education in coursework that is directly related to the work of the position such as: forestry, natural resource management, range management, agriculture.
OR
A combination of graduate level education that is directly related to the position and specialized experience. The education must have been obtained in an accredited college or university.

For the GS-07: You must have one year specialized experience equivalent to the GS-06 in the Federal service. Qualifying specialized experience includes meeting one or more of the following: Used computer programs required for data collection, cruise processing, traversing, and Global Positioning Systems(GPS); experience in the fundamentals of timber cruising including: tree measurements, map reading and compass use, species identification, defect recognition and determination, quality determination, traversing, use of aerial photos, and use of timber cruising tools and instruments; use of sampling systems such as 3P, fixed area, point, and sample tree to determine statistically sound cruise samples; laid out timber sale boundaries using multiple logging system methods.
OR
One full year (18 semester / 27 quarter hours) of graduate level education in coursework that is directly related to the work of the position such as: forestry, natural resource management, range management, agriculture.
OR
A combination of graduate level education that is directly related to the position and specialized experience. The education must have been obtained in an accredited college or university.

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.

Work Experience: Your resume must clearly document the following for each block of work experience; the beginning day, month and year the work assignment started and ended; the hours worked per week; position title, and series and grade if applicable; and description of duties performed. This information must be provided for each permanent, temporary, or seasonal appointment/work assignment or volunteer work and should be clearly documented as a separate block of time. Incomplete, inaccurate, or conflicting work history may not be credited for qualifications purposes. This can result in an applicant not being considered for the position.

Education

See above for education that may be qualifying for the specific grade level.

Additional information

This vacancy is limited to the first 150 applications received and will close at 11:59 pm ET on the closing date identified above or the day we receive the 150th application, whichever occurs first.

Positions may be filled at the GS-05, 06 or 07 full performance level, or GS-05, or 06 developmental career ladder with promotion potential to the GS-07.

Positions may be filled at the following duty locations:
Chiloquin, OR
Dufur, OR
Heppner, OR
John Day, OR
Silver Lake, OR
Sisters, OR
Westfir, OR
Newport, WA
Pomeroy, WA

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), Reemployment Priority List (RPL), or Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP): To exercise selection priority for this vacancy, CTAP/RPL/ICTAP candidates must meet the basic eligibility requirements and all selective factors. CTAP/ICTAP eligibles 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.

PROMOTION POTENTIAL:If you are selected for a position with further promotion potential, you will be placed under a career development plan, and may be non-competitively promoted if you successfully complete the requirements and if recommended by management. However, promotion is not guaranteed.

This position may be eligible to telework up to four days per week, based upon the duties of the position. This position may also be eligible for flexible work arrangements as determined by agency policy and any applicable collective bargaining agreements.

The Forest Service may use certain incentives and hiring flexibilities, currently offered by the Federal government, to attract highly qualified candidates. Additional information is available at https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/pay-and-leave-flexibilities-for-recruitment-and-retention/

This is a bargaining unit position and is represented by either NFFE, AFGE, or NAGE.

Forest Service daycare facilities are not available.

Government Housing may be available.

We may select from this announcement or any other source to fill one or more vacancies.

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. You 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. Individuals 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.

To view the application form, visit: https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/11825981

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