What are the responsibilities and job description for the Forestry Aid position at US Forest Service?
Duties
- This is a trainee position in the Forestry Technician profession that performs basic duties and receives training in support of:
- A unit's various forestry, recreation and natural resources management programs, such as timber and silviculture, recreation and trails, wildlife, fisheries, watershed improvement (soils and hydrology),
- range, and special uses (i.e. permitting of agency approved projects). The responsibilities are listed at the full performance level and may include:
- Marks and measures specific tree species and observes defects under the guidance of a supervisor.
- Gathers, compiles, and recommends improvements for developed and dispersed recreation sites on the unit.
- Functions as Collection Officer for recreation sites. Collects fees, count, reconciles money collected, and ensures deposits are made appropriately.
- Assists with putting together project proposals and with conducting studies for providing input in National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA) project analysis.
- Conducts a variety of field studies of sensitive wildlife and fish species to determine numbers, environmental conditions, and the condition of the species and its habitat, and factor affecting the health and welfare of the species and its habitat.
- Conducts water resource inventories, implements water resource improvement project plans, and evaluates impacts of Forest management on the aquatic resources.
- Participates in the development of plans and programs for range management by collecting data for grazing allotment plans and advising management as to what improvements are needed and what management practices can be affected.
- Identifies plants and noxious weeds in the field and applies the proper protection or noxious weed controls.
- Measures and lays out the boundary of areas designated for planting, site preparation, and timber stand improvement contracts.
- Engages with visitors and permitted users and patrols for compliance in various natural resources program areas.
- Monitors and maintains existing trails, facilities, etc. to ensure they are in operable condition.
Requirements
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
For the GS-03: Applicants must have 6 months of general experience. General experience is defined as 1 or more of the following:
- performing manual labor such as construction work, stocking shelves, working on farms, ranches, or other settings such as feeding and tending to livestock, maintaining farm facilities and equipment, and/or like facilities and equipment;- working in greenhouses, nurseries, or landscaping by tasks like planting, moving, watering, and caring for plants; and/or
- engaging in general maintenance duties like custodial work, mowing, or tending grounds; and/or
- providing mechanical, electrical, or plumbing services; and/or
- working as an animal caretaker in laboratories, zoos, or pet stores, tending to tribal livestock and/or hatchery resources; and/or
- working outdoors or in the recreation industry; and/or
- serving as a cashier and managing money; and/or
- conducting administrative tasks and/or managing correspondences or files; and/or
- working in customer service or the service industry; and/or
- being a delivery truck driver or working in transportation; and/or
- gaining other work experience, whether paid or unpaid, such as volunteering or interning for research or academic projects; tribal, cultural or art organizations; professional association or societies; at various organizations like parks, food banks, youth camps, caregiving, hospitals or nursing homes; participating in community and tribal engagement initiatives; and supporting sports leagues, local fire and police departments and/or other non-profit/non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
OR An appropriate combination of experience and education above high school as described above. The education must have been obtained in an accredited business, secretarial or technical school, junior college, college or university and include courses that are related to the occupation 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.
Education
See above for educational qualifications.
Additional information
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.
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/.
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 is recommended by management. However, promotion is not guaranteed.
Positions filled from this announcement may be a bargaining or a non-bargaining unit position represented by either NFFE, AFGE or NAGE.
Final determination of the duty station will be made by the selecting official at the time of the job offer. Pay rates vary depending on location, the salary shown is for the Rest of the U.S. See OPM.gov for additional information on pay rates.
Government Housing may be available.
Benefits
A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Opens in a new windowLearn more about federal benefits.
Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.
How You Will Be Evaluated
You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.
This is a Direct-Hire Authority position, all applicants who meet the minimum qualifications, to include any selective placement factor(s), if applicable, will be referred to the selecting official. Before a certificate is issued to the selecting official, the resume is reviewed to ensure that you meet all the qualification requirements. A rating will not be used; veteran's preference does not apply due to the existence of the Direct Hire authority for this position.
Note: If, after reviewing your resume and/or supporting documentation, a determination is made that you have inflated your qualifications and or experience, 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/12110226
Benefits
A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Opens in a new windowLearn more about federal benefits.
Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.
Required Documents
As a new or existing federal employee, you and your family may have access to a range of benefits. Your benefits depend on the type of position you have - whether you're a permanent, part-time, temporary or an intermittent employee. You may be eligible for the following benefits, however, check with your agency to make sure you're eligible under their policies.
The following documents are required for your applicant package to be complete. Our office cannot be responsible for incompatible software, illegible fax transmissions, delays in the mail service, your system failure, etc. Encrypted documents will not be accepted. Failure to submit required, legible documents may result in loss of consideration.
Resume that includes: 1) personal information such as name, address, contact information to include phone number and email address; 2) education; 3) detailed work experience related to this position as described in the responsibilities section including work schedule, hours worked per week, dates of employment to include month, day, and year; title, series, grade (if applicable); 4) supervisor's phone number and whether or not the supervisor may be contacted for a reference check; 5) other qualifications.
If education is required or you are using education to qualify, you must submit a copy of your college transcripts. An unofficial copy is sufficient with the application; however, if you are selected, you will be required to submit official transcripts prior to entering on duty. Education must have been successfully obtained from an accredited school, college or university. If any education was completed at a foreign institute, you must submit with your application evidence that the institute was appropriately accredited by an accrediting body recognized by the U.S. Department of Education as equivalent to U.S. education standards. There are private organizations that specialize in this evaluation and a fee is normally associated with this service. All transcripts must be in English or include an English translation.
Surplus or displaced employees eligible for CTAP, RPL, or ICTAP priority must provide: proof of eligibility (RIF separation notice, notice of proposed removal for declining a transfer of function or directed reassignment to another commuting area, notice of disability annuity termination), SF-50 documenting separation (as applicable), and your most recent SF-50 noting position, grade level, and duty location with your application per 5 CFR 330.How to Apply
Please view Tips for Applicants - a guide to the Forest Service application process.
After this announcement closes you may receive email notifications and tasks to complete. Ensure you're regularly checking email to include your junk or spam folders as some emails may be sent to those folders.
Read the entire announcement and all instructions before you begin. You must complete this application process and submit all required documents electronically by 11:59p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on the closing date of this announcement.
Applying online is highly encouraged. We are available to assist you during business hours (8:00a.m. - 4:00p.m. (MST), Monday - Friday. If applying online poses a hardship, contact the Agency Contact listed below well before the closing date for an alternate method. All hardship application packages must be returned to Human Resources no later than noon ET on the closing date of the announcement in order for it to be entered into the system prior to the closing date.
This agency provides reasonable accommodation to applicants with disabilities on a case-by-case basis. Contact the Agency Contact to request this.
To begin, in USAJOBS click "Apply" and follow the instructions to attach your resume and required documents, complete the assessment questionnaire, and submit your application.
NOTE: Please verify that documents you are uploading from USAJOBS transfer into the Agency's staffing system as there is a limitation to the number of documents that can be transferred. However, once in the Agency's staffing system, you will have the opportunity to upload additional documents. Uploaded documents must be less than 5MB and in one of the following document formats: GIF, JPG, JPEG, PNG, RTF, PDF, TXT or Word (DOC or DOCX). Do not upload Adobe Portfolio documents because they are not viewable.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
USNext steps
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 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).
Multiple positions may be filled from this announcement.
Fair and Transparent
The Federal hiring process is set up to be fair and transparent. Please read the following guidance.
- Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Policy
- Reasonable accommodation policy
- Financial suitability
- Selective Service
- New employee probationary period
- Signature and false statements
- Privacy Act
- Social security number request
Required Documents
The following documents are required for your applicant package to be complete. Our office cannot be responsible for incompatible software, illegible fax transmissions, delays in the mail service, your system failure, etc. Encrypted documents will not be accepted. Failure to submit required, legible documents may result in loss of consideration.
Resume that includes: 1) personal information such as name, address, contact information to include phone number and email address; 2) education; 3) detailed work experience related to this position as described in the responsibilities section including work schedule, hours worked per week, dates of employment to include month, day, and year; title, series, grade (if applicable); 4) supervisor's phone number and whether or not the supervisor may be contacted for a reference check; 5) other qualifications.
If education is required or you are using education to qualify, you must submit a copy of your college transcripts. An unofficial copy is sufficient with the application; however, if you are selected, you will be required to submit official transcripts prior to entering on duty. Education must have been successfully obtained from an accredited school, college or university. If any education was completed at a foreign institute, you must submit with your application evidence that the institute was appropriately accredited by an accrediting body recognized by the U.S. Department of Education as equivalent to U.S. education standards. There are private organizations that specialize in this evaluation and a fee is normally associated with this service. All transcripts must be in English or include an English translation.
Surplus or displaced employees eligible for CTAP, RPL, or ICTAP priority must provide: proof of eligibility (RIF separation notice, notice of proposed removal for declining a transfer of function or directed reassignment to another commuting area, notice of disability annuity termination), SF-50 documenting separation (as applicable), and your most recent SF-50 noting position, grade level, and duty location with your application per 5 CFR 330.
This job is open to
The public
U.S. Citizens, Nationals or those who owe allegiance to the U.S.
Clarification from the agency
Applications will be accepted from any U.S. citizen. Direct Hire Authority will be used to fill this position. Veterans Preference and traditional rating and ranking of applicants does not apply to this vacancy.
Salary : $33,906 - $41,637
