The USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station’s Forest Inventory and Analysis Program, Ogden, UT, anticipates filling the following positions:

·        Up to 18 forestry technicians in support of the field inventory. These positions will be advertised in the Forestry Technician (0462) series at the GS 6 level. These are career, permanent-seasonal (PSE) positions consisting of 13 pay periods of full time work and 13 pay periods in nonpay status per year; or 18 pay periods of full time work, and 8 pay periods in nonpay status per year; depending on the location. Appointees may be offered the opportunity to work longer depending on workload and funding. The anticipated start date is Spring 2019.

All of the positions serve as members of the Interior West Forest Inventory and Analysis Program, headquartered in Ogden, Utah, which conducts forest resource inventories and forest health monitoring activities throughout the interior west states including Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, New Mexico, Nevada, Montana, Utah, and Wyoming. For more information about the Program, please visit our internet site at www.fs.fed.us/rm/ogden/.

Each position will serve as part of a two person forest resource inventory crew. The forestry technician crew members work under the direction of a local crew leader. The work involves contacting land owners for access; locating study plots using aerial photo baseline and GPS techniques; conducting extensive resource and health inventories including tree measurements and foliage evaluations, understory vegetation composition and structure estimates, site characteristics and soils evaluations, etc; using various measurement instruments and electronic data recorders.  

The area sampled by the RMRS Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program covers a diversity of ecological communities. Terrain varies from dry ponderosa pine, oak woodland and juniper forests at lower elevations in the southern portion of the 8-state territory; to the high alpine forests of Colorado, Wyoming, and the Rocky Mountains; to the temperate rain forests of northern Idaho and northwestern Montana - and everything in between! Each crew covers a large area, and all staff will experience a wide variety of country.

Fieldwork is arduous, and regularly includes extensive hiking and backpacking in remote and rugged areas, on and off-trail, in all weather conditions, and carrying heavy daypacks (~45 lb.) or backpacks (60+ lb.). Depending on location, a variety of other methods are used to access plots including ATV’s, horses, aircraft, and boats; please contact us for specifics of each location. 

The field season typically runs from April through November. In all locations, overnight travel away from the duty station is frequent, and may include periods of extended and continuous travel. Work schedules can be quite varied (Maxi-flex, 8/6, 10/4, etc), and weekend work may be required. The ability to work productively as part of a team, meet the physical demands of this challenging outdoor work, and to quickly learn a complex set of field protocols are all very important in this position!

The positions are based at a number of different locations, which are indicated in the table below

The purpose of this Outreach Notice is to determine the potential applicant pool for these positions. The vacancy announcement for these positions, when open, will be posted at the USA Jobs website, the U.S. Government’s official site for jobs and employment information: www.usajobs.gov

 

If you would enjoy working as part of the Forest Inventory and Analysis Program, we encourage you to express your interest in the position(s) as soon as possible. If you reply to this outreach notice, we will notify you when the positions are announced (anticipated to be mid- to late November). For additional information, please contact any of the supervisors listed above, or Bob Rhoads at (801) 625-5685 or brhoads@fs.fed.us.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service prohibits discrimination in all its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, and where applicable, sex, marital status, familial status, parental status, religion, sexual orientation, genetic information, political beliefs, reprisal, or because all or part of an individual’s income is derived from any public assistance program. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs). Persons with disabilities who require alternate means for communication of program information (Braille, large print, audiotapes, etc) should contact USDA’s TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TDD).

To file a complaint of discrimination write: USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Ave, SW, Washington, DC 20250-9410 or call (800) 795-3272 (voice) or (202)720-6382 (TDD). USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.

OUTREACH NOTICE RESPONSE FORM

Please complete this form and return it as soon as possible to any of the supervisors listed above, or to Bob Rhoads at the address below. We anticipate the vacancy announcement to be advertised in mid- to late- November, and will notify all respondents at that time.

Bob Rhoads

Forest Inventory and Analysis Program

507  25th Street

Ogden, UT 84401

fax: 801-625-5723

email: brhoads@fs.fed.us

Permanent-seasonal (13/13 or 18/8) Duty Station(s). 

Please indicate all duty stations that you are interested in:

           ☐ ALL

           ☐ Eureka, MT          ☐ Kalispell, MT        ☐  Missoula, MT       ☐ Bozeman, MT

           ☐ Coeur d’Alene, ID ☐ Grangeville, ID     ☐ Challis, ID             ☐ McCall, ID

           ☐ Gunnison, CO      ☐ Ely, NV                 ☐ Cedar City, UT     ☐  Ogden, UT

           ☐ Richfield, UT        ☐ Prescott, AZ         ☐ Flagstaff, AZ    ☐ Gallup, NM

I’m interested in this position and will check www.usajobs.gov for the announcement, or I will call or email the contact person.