Lead forestry technician (Fire), Bureau of Indian Affairs

The Bureau of Indian Affairs is the lead agency for the United States in carrying on a government-to-government relationship with the tribal nations. A challenging and dynamic place to work, it enhances the quality of life, promotes economic opportunity, and carries out the responsibility to protect and improve the trust assets of American Indians, Indian Tribes and Alaska Natives.

Incumbent performs wildland fire fighting work and leads crews performing such work. The crews perform work directly related to wildland fire suppression and control activities including suppression, preparedness, prevention, monitoring, hazardous fuels reduction, and prescribed burning. Assures that needed tools and equipment are available for fire fighting tasks. Operates a variety of motor vehicles to transport equipment, supplies, crewmembers, etc. Provides daily leadership and training for the crewmembers. Instructs crewmembers in specific tasks and techniques; conducts on-the-job training, distributes and controls work assignments, assures timely accomplishment of assigned tasks; maintains work notes and records; reports on work accomplishments, ensures the work is carried out safely; reports on performance problems and issues. May perform hazardous fuel reduction projects, which entail thinning, cutting and piling vegetation. May assist in the preparation of hazardous fuels treatment plans and burn plans based on predicted fire behavior and risk assessment.

Qualifications required:

To be rated eligible for this position, you must meet the selective factor (if any) in addition to qualifying experience and/or education described in the Occupational Assessment Questionnaire. Candidates are required to meet OPM qualification standards outlined in the OPM Group Coverage Qualification Standards for Technical and Medical Support Positions and Individual Occupational Requirements for the Forestry Technician Series, GS-462. It is available for review on OPM's website at http://www.opm.gov/qualifications.

Qualification for a GS-5 position is 1 year of creditable specialized wildland fire management experience at least equivalent to GS-4 grade level OR successful completion of a full 4-year course of study leading to a bachelor's degree (a) with major study in forestry, range management, agriculture, or a subject-matter field directly related to the position or (b) that included at least 24 semester hours in any combination of course such as listed for GS-4. (No more than 6 semester hours in mathematics is creditable)

Qualification for a GS-6 position is 1 year of creditable specialized experience at least equivalent to the GS-5 grade level.

Undergraduate education: Successful completion of a full 4-year course of study in any field leading to a bachelor’s degree, in an accredited college or university, meets the GS-5 level requirements.

Specialized experience: Specialized experience is that experience which has provided the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to successfully function in the position applied for (refer to the Statement of Duties).

Examples of qualifying Forestry Technician experience include:

*Forestry aid or technician experience
*Engineering, range or soil conservation technician experience that involved the application of cultural, resource conservation, or land management practices on non-forest or ranch lands when combined with knowledge of forestry operations and equipment
*Farming or ranching experience that involved application of cultural and soil and water conservation practices, including safety and use of equipment and that provided a basic understanding of land use
*Experience in forest or range fire control, prevention or suppression.

Education:

To qualify based on education, you must submit a legible copy of transcripts with your name, school name, credit hours, major(s), and grade-point average or class ranking. If transcripts are not included in your application package, education will not be credited.

Transcripts do not need to be official but if you are selected for this position and you used your education to qualify then you will need to provide official transcripts before you enter on duty.

You can receive credit for education received outside the United States if you provide evidence that it is comparable to an accredited education institution in the United States when you apply.