Forestry Technician (Timber Sale Preparation)

Summary

This 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. This position performs functions related to timber sale preparation. See the additional information section for contact information. USDA Employees: Please refer to the Next Steps section.

Duties

• Duties listed below are at the full performance level.
• Prepares and executes a variety of conventional timber cruises and sampling methods to estimate quality and quantity of timber.
• Prepares conventional types of logging systems appraisals, completes timber sale appraisals to determine value, and prepares timber sale or stewardship contracts.
• Determines sample cruise design, selects sampling methods, completes timber sale cruises to estimate volume by species, assembles statistical data, and summarizes results.
• Gathers data for logging system analysis such as road access, skyline profiles, and landing location suitability.

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. 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. Specialized Experience Requirement: GS-07: Applicants must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-06 grade level in forestry management; or a related subject-matter field. Specialized experience is defined as two or more of the following; Use computer programs required for data collection, cruise processing, traversing, and 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. GS-08: Applicants must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-07 grade level in forestry management; or a related subject-matter field. Specialized experience is defined as two or more of the following: Drafted timber cruise plans, performing lay out of timber sale boundaries; Summarized cruise and marking data for inclusion in reports describing timber quantity, resources, topographic features and timber marking guidelines; Prepared timber sale appraisals and contracts. 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

Education is not a requirement for this position and will not be used in lieu of specialized experience. How You Will Be Evaluated

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 to determine the degree to which you possess the competencies listed below: Forest Management Oral Communication Timber Written Communication Your application, including the online Assessment Questionnaire, will be reviewed to determine if you meet (a) minimum qualification requirements and (b) the resume supports the answers provided to the job-specific questions. 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. Accomplishment Record Review: If you are found minimally qualified, a rating panel will review your resume and Accomplishment Record narratives. Accomplishment Record narratives should clearly demonstrate your proficiency in the competencies listed above. 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/13107755 Other Information

For additional information about the duties of this position, please contact: South Lake Tahoe, CA - Kyle Taylor at [email protected] Hot Springs, AR; Gainesville, GA; Blacksburg, VA, or Pineville, LA - Michael Keller at [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. Salary wage as shown is for Rest of the 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. 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. 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. Positions filled from this announcement may be a bargaining or a non-bargaining unit position represented by either NFFE, AFGE or NAGE. 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.