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Social Scientist/Natural Resource Specialist/Landscape Architect

Department of Agriculture
Forest Service

Summary

This position is located on the Dixie National Forest in Escalante, UT. For additional information about the duties of this position, please contact Jennifer Thomas at jennifer.r.thomas@usda.gov.

Overview

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Accepting applications
Open & closing dates
04/21/2026 to 04/27/2026
Salary
$74,678 - $97,087 per year
Pay scale & grade
GS 11
Location
Few vacancies in the following location:
Escalante, UT
Remote job
No
Telework eligible
No
Travel Required
Occasional travel - You may be expected to travel for this position.
Relocation expenses reimbursed
Yes—A recruitment or relocation incentive, or reimbursement of relocation expenses may be authorized at the discretion of management in accordance with agency policy.
Appointment type
Permanent
Work schedule
Full-time
Service
Competitive
Promotion potential
None
Supervisory status
Yes
Security clearance
Not Required
Drug test
No
Position sensitivity and risk
Non-sensitive (NS)/Low Risk
Trust determination process
Financial disclosure
No
Bargaining unit status
No
Announcement number
26-SVA-12927587-FS
Control number
865692600

This job is open to

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Clarification from the agency

Applications will be accepted only from current permanent Forest Service (FS) employees with competitive status; Land Management eligible candidates whose last appointment was with the FS; and CTAP/RPL eligible candidates.

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Duties

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  • Provide professional advice and support to plan, develop, implement, and evaluate recreation program/project activities.
  • Analyze and identify recreation program needs to recommend schedules and priorities.
  • Provide input into the development of environmental analysis for the integration of ecological, social, and cultural influences regarding aesthetics, scenery, and recreation for land management planning and environmental design.
  • Participate on interdisciplinary teams to plan future recreation use and consider all alternatives in the resource project description and design.
  • Determine permit mitigations necessary to protect resources such as air, water, and land quality.
  • Participate with unit management team to assure program management activities are responsive to identified customer needs.
  • Consult with the program coordinator and budget specialist to prepare project scopes, budgets, and schedules.
  • Develop and maintain external cooperative relationships with government agencies, non-governmental organizations, conservation groups, private foundations and other external partners.
  • Supervises 20% or less of the time.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

  • Must be a U.S. Citizen or National.
  • Males born after 12/31/1959 must be Selective Service registered or exempt.
  • Subject to satisfactory adjudication of background investigation and/or fingerprint check.
  • Successful completion of one-year probationary period, unless previously served. Refer to the Next Steps section for more information.
  • 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.gov

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.

This is an interdisciplinary position and may be filled in any of the job series listed below.

Basic Requirement:
GS-0101- Social Science: Degree: Successful completion of a full 4-year course of study in an accredited college or university leading to a bachelor's or higher degree that included a major field of study in behavioral or social science; or related disciplines appropriate to the position

OR Combination of education and experience -- that provided the applicant with knowledge of one or more of the behavioral or social sciences equivalent to a major in the field.

OR Four years of appropriate experience that demonstrated that the applicant has acquired knowledge of one or more of the behavioral or social sciences equivalent to a major in the field.

GS-0401- Biological Science: Degree: Successful completion of a full 4-year course of study in an accredited college or university leading to a bachelor's or higher degree that included a major field of study in biological sciences, agriculture, natural resource management, chemistry, or related disciplines appropriate to the position.

OR Successful completion of a full 4-year course of study in an accredited college or university leading to a bachelor's or higher degree in a major field of study that included 24 semester hours in course work in biological sciences, agriculture, natural resource management, chemistry, or related disciplines appropriate to the position. Related course work generally refers to courses that may be accepted as part of the program major.

OR Combination of education and experience that included 24 semester hours in course work in biological sciences, agriculture, natural resource management, chemistry, or related disciplines appropriate to the position, AND experience sufficient to demonstrate that I possess the knowledge, skills, and abilities required to perform work in the occupation that is comparable to that normally acquired through the successful completion of a full 4-year course of study with a major in the appropriate field needed to perform the work of the occupation.

GS-0807- Landscape Architecture: Degree: Successful completion of a full 4-year course of study in an accredited college or university leading to a bachelor's or higher degree that included a major in landscape architecture or landscape design.

OR Combination of education and experience -- for each year short of graduation, 1 year of experience under professional leadership and guidance of such character and diversity as to be a satisfactory substitute for the required education. This experience must have included original landscape design.

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

Specialized Experience Requirement:

GS-11:

One (1) year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-09 level in Federal service. Specialized experience is defined as one or more of the following: Developed environmental documents including impact statements concerning proposed recreational sites, wilderness trails, and special uses; prepared recreation and scenic resource specialist reports, including design features and proposed mitigation measures in graphic and written format; made recommendations on potential sites or areas for additional recreation use and planned development; and/or conducted surveys and studies on existing and dispersed and developed recreation facilities and their present use and demand.

OR

3 years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to a Ph.D. degree or Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree (coursework directly related to the position being filled).

OR

An appropriate combination of specialized experience and graduate level education (beyond what is required for a master's degree, i.e., more than 36 semester/54 quarter hours leading to a Ph.D.). The education must have been obtained in an accredited college or university and demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of the position.

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.

TIME IN GRADE REQUIREMENT: If you are a current federal employee in the General Schedule (GS) pay plan and applying for a promotion opportunity, you must meet time-in-grade (TIG) requirements of 52 weeks of service at the next lower grade level in the normal line of progression for the position being filled. This requirement must be met by the closing date of this announcement.

Education

Please see Qualifications section for Education information.

Additional information

Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) or Reemployment Priority List (RPL): To exercise selection priority for this vacancy, CTAP/RPL candidates must meet the basic eligibility requirements and all selective factors. CTAP candidates must be rated and determined to be well qualified (or above) based on an evaluation of the competencies listed in the How You Will Be Evaluated section. When assessed through a score-based category rating method, CTAP applicants must receive a rating of at least 85 out of a possible 100.

Land Management Workforce Flexibility Act (LMWFA) provides current or former temporary and term employees the opportunity to compete for permanent competitive service positions. Individuals must have more than 24 months of service without a break between appointments of two or more years and the last temporary or term appointment must have been with the Forest Service. Service must be in the competitive service and have been at a successful level of performance or better. Part-time and intermittent service will be credited only for time actually worked. Non-pay status such as leave without pay is credited for up to six months in a calendar year; anything beyond six months is not credited. Applicants are responsible for providing sufficient information/documentation to determine if the 24 month criteria is met.


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 on the OPM Website.

Transfer of station may be authorized. Final determination will be made at time of official job offer.

Rest of U.S. Final salary will be determined at the time of selection dependent on the duty location. For more information, refer to the Office of Personnel Management, Salary and Wages web page.

This is a non-bargaining unit position.

Forest Service daycare facilities may be available.

Government Housing may be available.

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

Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.

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 based on your qualifications for this position as evidenced by the experience, education, and training you described in your application package, as well as the responses to the Assessment Questionnaire.

Your application, including the online Assessment Questionnaire, will be reviewed to determine if you meet minimum qualification requirements. Your resume must clearly support your responses to all the questions addressing experience and education relevant to this position.

If you meet the qualification requirements and are determined to be among the best qualified, you will be referred to the hiring manager for consideration. Noncompetitive candidates and applicants under some special hiring authorities must meet minimum qualifications to be referred.

Note: If, after reviewing your resume and/or supporting documentation, a determination is made that you inflated your qualifications and or experience, your rating may be lowered to more accurately reflect the submitted documentation. 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.

To view the application form, visit: https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12927587

Forest Service

A career with the Forest Service will challenge you to manage and care for more than 193 million acres of our nation's most magnificent lands, conduct research through a network of forest and range experiment stations and the Forest Products Laboratory, and provide assistance to State and private forestry agencies.

It's an awesome responsibility - but the rewards are as limitless as the views.

Agency contact information

HRM Contact Center
Phone
1-877-372-7248 X2
Email
HRM_Contact_Center@usda.gov
Address
USDA Forest Service HRM Contact Center
DO NOT MAIL IN APPLICATIONS, SEE INSTRUCTIONS IN THE ANNOUNCEMENT.
Albuquerque, NM 87109
US

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