Forestry Technician (Research)
Temporary Seasonal (1039) PNW FIA Field Crew Member
GS-0462-05/06
Pacific Northwest Research Station
Resource Monitoring and Assessment Program
Forest Inventory and Analysis
Please reply by: November 5th, 2021
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The PNW Research Station, Portland Forestry Sciences Lab, may hire up to 15 temporary positions as field data collection
Crew Members with the Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program for the 2022 field season. Positions may be located in
Washington, Oregon or California and will be filled based on changes in current workforce. Salary is dependent on location
and grade.
2022 Satellite Duty Locations:
San Bernardino CA Redding CA Portland OR
Fresno CA Mt Shasta CA Eugene OR
Nevada City CA Grants Pass OR Cle Elum WA
Mammoth Lakes CA Bend OR Sedro-Woolley WA
Chico CA La Grande OR Olympia WA
PLEASE NOTE: The purpose of this Outreach Notice is to determine the potential applicant pool for this position. The vacancy announcement for
this position, when open, will be posted at the USA Jobs website, the U.S. Government’s official site for jobs and employment information:
http://www.usajobs.opm.gov
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About the positions:
These are temporary positions (not to exceed 1039 hours), and the duration of work is expected to be ~6 months in length.
Targeted start date is April 11, 2022 for all new hires, and the positions are likely to run into September or October.
The positions are with the Data Collection Team of the PNW Research Station’s Resource Monitoring and Assessment
(RMA) Program, Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) unit. The FIA unit is part of a nationwide program which collects,
processes, analyzes, evaluates, and publishes comprehensive information on forest and other related renewable resources.
Administration for this Data Collection team is located in Portland, Oregon and field crews are remotely stationed throughout
Washington, Oregon and California.
These positions will support work sampling field plots located on a systematic grid across all landownerships and will be
almost entirely field based. A wide variety of information is collected in the inventory including tree measurements; forest
pathogens, understory vegetation composition and structure, stand treatments and disturbances, down woody material
measurements, and land ownership.
Crew members work under the direction of a local crew leader and work alongside one to three people. Crews will use maps,
aerial photos, and GPS units to navigate to permanent plot locations. Measurements taken by crews include
tree/sapling/seedling data (species, diameter, height, defect, insect & disease, damage, etc.); understory vegetation (shrub,
herb, grass species and percent cover, etc.); down woody material (line transects, litter depth, and fuels measurement, etc.);
and site index and site attributes (site tree selection, slope, aspect, topographic position, distance to water, etc.). Crews use
portable, handheld computers to collect data in the field and then process the data later using laptop computers to address any
inconsistencies or errors.
Each crew travels frequently and independently within their duty station area. Crews can expect to travel away from home for a
significant portion of the field season (40-75% dependent on duty location). Travel will sometimes involve week-long trips while
other times crews may need to spend a month away from home. During travel periods, crews will change locations about
weekly. Lodging is generally in motel/hotels and car camping, with occasional backpacking required. Individuals will be
reimbursed for incurred lodging expenses and travel per diem.
In all areas work conditions are arduous, requiring regular and recurring physical exertion. In many locations, workdays can
exceed 10 hours and frequent overtime may be required. Work may be performed in inclement weather (cold, heat, rain,
snow) and on rugged, steep, slippery, and/or brushy slopes. Significant amounts of on-trail and off-trail hiking are required.
Crew Members must carry a 45lb pack daily, with pack weights sometimes exceeding 60lbs. Exposure to hazards such as
poison oak, bears, and insects is common. Additionally, travel by helicopter, stock animal, or boat is occasionally required.
Urban FIA:
In addition to these positions, we are outreaching for a 1039 based in Portland, OR whose work will primarily focus on
inventorying Urban forested communities in the cities of Portland, OR and San Diego, CA. This work includes extensive
landowner outreach and communication, and familiarity with ornamental flora is strongly preferred but not required. The position
will start and be based in Portland, with the expectation to work ~2 months in continuous travel status in San Diego. Interested
candidates should select “Urban – Portland, OR” as their preferred duty location.
**Government Housing will NOT be available**
Please see qualifications at: http://www.opm.gov/qualifications/
Please visit our team’s website, including an information page on how to join our team!
http://www.fs.fed.us/pnw/rma/fia-topics/data-collection/
For more information on the Urban FIA program, please visit:
https://www.fia.fs.fed.us/program-features/urban/
You can send your outreach response electronically to:
SM.FS.pnw_fia_jobs@usda.gov (please use the subject line “Forestry Technician”) or by regular mail to:
FIA Program Assistant
620 SW Main, Suite 502
Portland, OR 97205
This is a pre-announcement only. When the position is advertised, the announcement will be posted on the Office of Personnel
Management web site: www.usajobs.gov . The announcement will contain all of the information you need to apply for the
position.
The purpose of this Outreach Notice is to determine the potential applicant pool for this position and to establish an appropriate
recruitment method and area of consideration for the vacancy announcement (Region-wide, Service-wide, USDA-wide, Government-
wide, and/or DEMO). Responses received from this outreach notice will be relied upon to make these determinations.