Forester

Summary

This position is located on a Forest Service unit. The incumbent is responsible for the completion of preparations required prior to offering timber for sale. Positions may be filled at one or more of the duty locations included in this announcement. Final determination of the duty location will be made at the time of the job offer. See the Additional Information section for details about the duties of this position. USDA Employees: Please refer to the Next Steps section.

Duties

• Evaluates and analyzes the project sale folder information and conducts a preliminary field reconnaissance. Assembles and reviews the timber sales contract package.
• Determines, plans, and arranges for the resources needed to complete the layout of sales. Identifies and verifies the land status and environmental constraints affecting layout of the proposed project on the ground.
• Monitors and oversees cruising and marking of timber and prepares general logging plans and verifies logging system settings
• Utilizing appropriate document, determines sale boundaries, proper location of logging roads, acceptable marking and cutting methods, stumpage prices, and the requirements for brush disposal, erosion control, and stand improvement.
• Performs supervisory duties 20% or less of the time.

Requirements

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. 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. The U.S. Government utilizes Trusted Workforce 2.0 to implement Continuous Vetting (CV) as a-whole-of government approach to personnel security. If selected for this position, you will be subject to continuous automated record checks of criminal, financial, and public record databases throughout your period of eligibility or employment, replacing traditional periodic reinvestigations. As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1-year probationary period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may consider: your performance and conduct; the needs and interests of the agency; whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service. Upon completion of your probationary period your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest. Subject to one year supervisory/managerial probationary period unless prior service is creditable. New Forest Service supervisors must successfully complete all components of the required training program before the end of their probationary period. 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. Provide course descriptions as necessary. Basic Requirement:GS-0460 Degree: forestry; or a related subject-matter field that included a total of at least 30 semester hours in any combination of biological, physical, or mathematical sciences or engineering, of which at least 24 semester hours of course work were in forestry. The curriculum must have been sufficiently diversified to include courses in each of the following areas: Management of Renewable Resources -- study of the science and art of managing renewable resources to attain desired results. Examples of creditable courses in this area include silviculture, forest management operations, timber management, wildland fire science or fire management, utilization of forest resources, forest regulation, recreational land management, watershed management, and wildlife or range habitat management. Forest Biology -- study of the classification, distribution, characteristics, and identification of forest vegetation, and the interrelationships of living organisms to the forest environment. Examples of creditable courses in this area include dendrology, forest ecology, silvics, forest genetics, wood structure and properties, forest soils, forest entomology, and forest pathology. Forest Resource Measurements and Inventory -- sampling, inventory, measurement, and analysis techniques as applied to a variety of forest resources. Examples of creditable courses include forest biometrics, forest mensuration, forest valuation, statistical analysis of forest resource data, renewable natural resources inventories and analysis, and photogrammetry or remote sensing. OR Combination of education and experience: courses equivalent to a major in forestry, or at least 30 semester hours in any combination of biological, physical, or mathematical sciences or engineering, of which at least 24 semester hours were in forestry. The requirements for diversification of the 24 semester hours in forestry are the same as shown in A above, plus appropriate experience or additional education. 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: For the GS-09: Specialized experience is defined as one or more of the following: Assisting with timber sale contracts, ensuring that all contract provisions were developed in accordance with contract objectives; AND/OR Conducting cruises of timber stands to determine volume of merchantable timber, species composition, accessibility, and environmental constraints; AND/OR Performing related timber sale preparation, timber stand improvements, reforestation duties; AND/OR Collecting timber compartment and stand prescription, or presale information data. OR a master's or equivalent graduate degree or 2 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.B. or J.D., directly related to the position. The education must have been obtained in an accredited college or university and demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work. OR an appropriate combination of specialized experience and education as described above (only graduate education in excess of 18 semester hours may be used to qualify applicants for this grade level). 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 Educational Requirements. How You Will Be Evaluated

Accomplishment Record Review: If you are found minimally qualified, a rating panel will review your resume and Accomplishment Record narratives. You will be assessed on the following competencies (knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics): Forest Management Oral Communication Supervision Writing Overstating your qualifications and/or experience in your application materials or application questionnaire may result in your removal from consideration. Cheating on an assessment may also result in your removal from consideration. If you wish to include a link for applicants to preview the application questionnaire using the Application Preview data insert, ensure you refer to it as the application questionnaire, rather than the assessment questionnaire, to avoid confusion with the USA Hire Assessment. For example: To preview the application questionnaire, click the following link: https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/13108425 Your application will be reviewed to verify that you meet the eligibility and qualification requirements for the position prior to issuing referral lists to the selecting official. If further evaluation or interviews are required, you will be contacted. Log in to your USAJOBS account to check your application status. You must choose to turn on email notifications in your USAJOBS profile if you want to receive important email notifications that may impact your applicant experience (e.g. If you start an application and do not submit it prior to the closing date, USAJOBS will send an email reminder that the closing date is approaching and your application is in an incomplete status). Other Information

Locations and Points of Contact: R1| Libby, MT - Brent Hoffman, [email protected] R2| Custer, SD - Todd Butler, [email protected] Spearfish, SD - Kenneth Hehr, [email protected] Granby, CO - Seth Jennings, [email protected] R3| Happy Jack, AZ - Shana Fitzpatrick, [email protected] Cloudcroft, NM - Seth Sandin, [email protected] Espanola, NM - Endasha Houston, [email protected] Coyote, NM - Endasha Houston, [email protected] Fredonia, AZ - Randall Walker, [email protected] R4| Duchesne, UT - Kristy Groves, [email protected] Vernal, UT - Kristy Groves, [email protected] R5| Prather, CA- Kim Sorinini, [email protected] R8| Gainesville, GA - Alan Hill, [email protected] Hot Springs, AR - Alan Hill, [email protected] Meadville, MS- Randall McKey, [email protected] Laurel, MS - Chandra Roberts, [email protected] Edgefield, SC - Roderick Alfred, [email protected] Jessieville, AR - Michael Welker, [email protected] R9| Duluth, MN - Troy Crowe, [email protected] Gladstone, MI - Troy Crowe, [email protected] 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. Salary wage as shown is for Rest of the U.S. 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.