This position is located in Region 1, Dakota Prairie Grasslands, McKenzie Ranger District with a duty location of Watford City, ND. The incumbent serves as an invasive plants specialist and botanist, providing assistance to the unit in matters dealing with invasive noxious weeds; threatened, endangered and sensitive plant species; and plant community and vegetation management. For additional information about the duties of this position, please contact Stacy Swenson at [email protected].

Duties

Duties listed are at the full performance level Prepare or review biological evaluations for threatened, endangered, or sensitive species. Prepare environmental assessments and environmental impact statements affecting botanical resources, and review reports drafted by third-party contractors. Develop and recommend alternative, preventative, or mitigative actions to protect botanical resources. Monitor effects of Grassland Land and Resources Management Plan implementation on plant communities, and interpret trends where management emphasis changes, including grazing and fire programs. Provide input into planning efforts on ecosystem restoration, including working with external entities. Coordinate with academic institutions regarding specific research and surveys that are periodically conducted on the grassland. Provide oversight on restoration activities conducted by non-Forest Service entities. Coordinate management of botanical resources with lands, minerals, rangeland management, and recreation staff, and participate on interdisciplinary teams.

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. This is an interdisciplinary position and may be filled in any of the job series listed below. Basic Requirement for the 0430 series: Degree: Botany; or basic plant science that included at least 24 semester hours in botany. Evaluation of Education: Courses in basic botany, plant anatomy or morphology, cytology, histology, genetics, taxonomy or systematics, algology, mycology, ethnobotany, and those dealing with specific problems of a botanical nature or with specific groups of plants are qualifying. OR Combination of education and experience: courses equivalent to a major in botany or basic plant science that included at least 24 semester hours in botany, as shown above, plus appropriate experience or additional education. Evaluation of Education: Courses in basic botany, plant anatomy or morphology, cytology, histology, genetics, taxonomy or systematics, algology, mycology, ethnobotany, and those dealing with specific problems of a botanical nature or with specific groups of plants are qualifying. Basic Requirement for the 0454 series: Degree: Range Management; or a related discipline that included at least 42 semester hours in a combination of the plant, animal, and soil sciences, and natural resources management, as follows: Range Management - At least 18 semester hours of course work in range management, including courses in such areas as basic principles of range management, range plants, range ecology, range inventories and studies, range improvements, and ranch or rangeland planning. Directly Related Plant, Animal, and Soil Sciences - At least 15 semester hours of directly related courses in the plant, animal, and soil sciences, including at least one course in each of these three scientific areas, i.e., plant, animal, and soil sciences. Courses in such areas as plant taxonomy, plant physiology, plant ecology, animal nutrition, livestock production, and soil morphology or soil classification are acceptable. Related Resource Management Studies - At least 9 semester hours of course work in related resource management subjects, including courses in such areas as wildlife management, watershed management, natural resource or agricultural economics, forestry, agronomy, forages, and outdoor recreation management. OR Combination of education and experience: at least 42 semester hours of course work in the combination of plant, animal, and soil sciences and natural resources management shown 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: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-07 in the Federal service. Specialized experience is defined as meeting one or more of the following: As an advanced trainee, participated in the evaluation and monitoring of the threatened, endangered and sensitive plant species, and plant community and vegetation management programs; Located, surveyed, identified, and recorded threatened, endangered, and sensitive plant species information to meet environmental assessment requirements; Collected and summarized data and administered plant species projects; Assisted in performing recurring, well defined, and moderately difficult range improvement projects such as preparing allotment management plans and determining stocking and rotation schemes; or Assisted in preparing segments of conventional range use plans under multiple-use sustained yield concepts or developed simple activity plans. OR A masters or equivalent graduate degree or 2 full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree, if related. OR An appropriate combination of specialized experience and education (only graduate education in excess of 18 semester hours may be used to qualify applicants for this grade level). The education must have been obtained in an accredited college or university and demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work. For the GS-11: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-09 in the Federal service. Specialized experience is defined as meeting two or more of the following: Developed, evaluated, and monitored threatened, endangered and sensitive plant species and plant community and vegetation management programs; Conducted and oversaw vegetation inventories, population, and community monitoring; Assisted in the development and implementation of management plans for the protection and enhancement of habitat for special status plants, and the control of noxious weeds or other invasive species; Analyzed environmental data and advised on conventional rangeland management issues and projects; or Prepared segments of conventional rangeland use plans under multiple-use sustained yield concepts or assisted in the development of activity plans that included range and watershed improvement. OR Three (3) years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to a Ph.D. degree or Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree (coursework directly related to position being filled); OR An appropriate combination of specialized experience and graduate level education (beyond what is required for a masters degree, i.e., more than 36 semester hours leading to a Ph.D.) Work Experience: Your resume must clearly document the following for each block of work experience: the beginning day, month and year the work assignment started and ended; the hours worked per week; position title, series and grade if applicable; and description of duties performed. This information must be provided for each permanent, temporary, or seasonal appointment/work assignment, or volunteer work and should be clearly documented as a separate block of time. Incomplete, inaccurate, or conflicting work history may not be credited for qualifications purposes, and this may result in an applicant's loss of consideration for 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. 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 Qualifications section above for education that may be qualifying.

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]