This position is with the Alaska Region, Regional Officer, Natural Resources Staff located in Juneau or Ketchikan, Alaska. This position serves as the timber measurement and valuation specialist for the Alaska Region. For additional information about the duties of this position, please contact Daniel O'Leary at (907)-586-8783 or [email protected].

Duties

Serves as a subject matter expert in mensurational and valuation methods and provides technical leadership, direction and oversight in the administration of the Region’s Timber Sale Program. Provides support in the development and implementation of Regional policy related to the interpretation of timber sale planning, preparation, appraising, administration, and data management of the forest timber management programs. Prepares timber measurement and appraisal instructions and related procedural guides for use on the National Forests or other units. Develops and maintains computational tools: tree volume prediction equations, tables, coefficients, and other factors to use in estimating timber volumes. Determines measurement and data needs for timber sales and timber inventory work, including but not limited to specification and assessment of alternatives, instrumentation trials, sampling methods, data recording, and use. Serves as intermediary specialist between Research and National Forest administration in applying results of mensuration research to operational needs. Trains crews in the collection of stem measurement data for deriving volume prediction equations and other tree parameters. Recommends and prepares timber sale preparation, appraisal, and contract direction that is consistent with current measurement procedures and agency direction. Counsels and gives Forest timber staff technical assistance regarding specific problems, including complaints from purchasers about volume shortages on timber sales, appraisal concerns, special cruising needs, and timber damaged by natural events. Provides advice and service to silviculture/genetic resource disciplines relating to inventory and yield relationships.

Requirements

• 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.
• 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. 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-12: You must have one year specialized experience equivalent to the GS-11 in the Federal service. Specialized experience is defined as one or more of the following: Assisting in the preparation of specifications for timber cruising systems, data processing programs, and such projects that are needed to provide data for deriving tree volume coefficients and other computational tools; Providing advice and guidance on logging systems including production rates and operating costs, timber valuation and timber sale appraisal processes, timber sale contract preparation, data management associated with timber harvest volumes, logging costs, and end product selling values; OR Reviewing and coordinating appraisal processes including implementing policy and guidelines pertaining to timber valuation, and providing advice on the sampling and measurement of timber for commercial softwood and hardwood species. 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

See above for educational requirements.

Contacts

• Address USDA Forest Service HRM Contact Center DO NOT MAIL IN APPLICATIONS, SEE INSTRUCTIONS IN THE ANNOUNCEMENT. Albuquerque, NM 87109 US
• Name: HRM Contact Center
• Phone: 1-877-372-7248 X2
• Email: [email protected]