Forester
What you'd do
You will serve as a Forester. These positions are located in the Bureau of Land Management, Oregon State Offices located in Grant Pass, Klamath Falls, Medford, North Bend, Prineville, Roseburg, Salem, Springfield, and Tillamook, Oregon. Pay will vary based on grade level and/or duty location for which you're selected. First time hires to the Federal government normally start at the step 1 rate.
Major duties
The Forester: Serves as a member of ID team that develops and designs projects for the forest management program. He/she would identify forest management activities on specific tracts which result in the Field Office meeting its ASQ and RMP commitment. The forester serves as a Field Office harvesting and logging systems technical specialist. He/she prepares viable and acceptable logging and harvest plans. Identifies and finds solutions to road location, harvesting, logging, site preparation, fire protection, fuels/slash treatment, and environmental protection problems and concerns. Prepares a variety of timber sale and silvicultural service contracts. Contracts must fully implement accepted plans, agency policies, and multiple resource management objectives. Contracts must be legally exacting, clearly specified, and readily enforceable. Designs contract provisions based upon field conditions, knowledge of past practices, and policy and guidelines. Evaluates timber sale requirements and ongoing operations to insure that resource management and environmental protection goals are achieved. Inspects operations to ensure contract compliance and interprets contract provisions consistently. Makes on-the-spot decisions and gives instructions to operators to resolve sale issues. The forester prepares all correspondence, documentation, and bills for each sale. Prescribes silvicultural and site preparation treatments based on field exams of stand conditions and other resource values. Duties will be developmental in nature when filled below the full performance level. Salary Ranges for Grant Pass, Klamath, Medford, North Bend, Prineville, Roseburg, Springfield and Tillamook Oregon: GS-07: $50,460- $65,599 GS-09: $61,722 - $80,243 GS-11: $74,678 - $97,087 Salary Ranges for Salem, Oregon: GS-07: $54,370 - $70,682 GS-09: $66,505 - $86,461 GS-11: $80,465 - $104,610
What you need to qualify
All qualifications must be met by the closing date of this announcement - 07/29/2026-unless otherwise stated in this vacancy announcement. Competitive candidates must also meet Time-in-Grade requirements as defined in 5 CFR 300, Subpart F. For current Federal employees, if hours worked per week are not included on your resume, you must submit a non-award SF-50 as part of your application to be used to validate your work schedule and determine the amount of specialized experience that you will be granted. An award SF-50 will not be acceptable documentation for which to consider your amount of qualifying experience. For periods of time that reflect military service, the DD-214 or Statement of Service is sufficient to meet the work schedule requirement as the service dates will be reflected. For all other applicants who are not current federal employees, your resume must state either "full-time" (or "40 hours a week") or "part-time" with the number of hours worked per week to ensure proper crediting of specialized experience. In order to qualify, you must meet the education and/or experience requirements described below. Your resume must clearly describe your relevant experience. If qualifying based on education, a copy of your unofficial transcripts must be provided with your application. Basic Educational Requirements: Successful completion of a full 4-year course of study in an accredited college or university leading to a bachelor's or higher degree that included the following major field of study and specific course requirements as stated below: A. 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 was in forestry. The curriculum must have been sufficiently diversified to include courses in each of the following areas: Management of Renewable Resources -- 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 -- 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 -- 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- B. 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. ADDITIONAL QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS FOR EACH GRADE: To be considered minimally qualified for this position, you must demonstrate that you have the required specialized experience and/or education for the respective grade level in which you are applying: GS-07: Specialized Experience: Applicants must have one full year of specialized experience comparable in scope and responsibility to the GS-05 grade level in the Federal service (obtained either in the private or public sectors) performing three or more of the following in a developmental capacity: (1) assisting with the development or implementation of forest management plans such as timber sale planning, logging system, reforestation, timber stand improvement, or landscape forestry; (2) preparing/analyzing logging and harvest plans, silvicultural treatments, or timber sale contracts to ensure compliance; and (3) interacting with various groups of people to investigate, exchange, or report information related to forest programs -OR- Education: Have successfully completed 1 full year of graduate level education. This education must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of this position. NOTE: Applicants must submit a copy of transcripts. -OR- Superior Academic Achievement (SAA): Successfully completed a bachelor's degree in a directly related field AND meet one of the following: (1) Class Standing: rank in the upper 3rd of the graduating class in the college, university, or major subdivision, based on the completed courses; OR (2) Grad-Point Average (GPA): earn a GPA of (a) 3.0 or higher out of a possible 4.0 ("B" or better) based on 4 years of education, or based on courses completed during the final 2 years of the curriculum -or- (b) 3.5 or higher out of a possible 4.0 ("B" or better) based on the average of the required courses completed in the major field, or the required courses completed during the final two years. Note: GPA will be rounded to the one decimal place, for example, 2.95 = 3.0, 2.94 = 2.9; OR (3) Membership in a National Scholastic Honor Society. GS-09: Specialized Experience: Applicants must have one full year of specialized experience comparable in scope and responsibility to the GS-07 grade level in the Federal service (obtained either in the private or public sectors) performing three or more of the following: (1) preparing and/or implementing timber sale or silvicultural service contracts; (2) executing long range forest management plans such as logging systems, road layout, harvesting, and tree improvement; (3) developing forest management plans such as: forest inventory analysis, environmental assessments, or forest history reports; and (4) preparing data, briefings, or trainings to explain and exchange forest management information. -OR- Education: Have 2 years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to a master's degree or master's or equivalent graduate degree that included a major field of study or specific course requirements generally as stated in the basic requirements. Such education must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of this position. (NOTE: You must submit a copy of your transcripts as proof of any claimed education). -OR- Combination education and experience: A combination of education and experience may be used to qualify for this position as long as the computed percentage of the requirements is at least 100%. To compute the percentage of the requirements, divide your total months of experience by 12. Then divide the total number of completed graduate semester hours (or equivalent) beyond the first year (total graduate semester hours minus 18) by 18. Add the two percentages. Note: You must submit a copy of your transcripts. GS-11: Specialized Experience: Have one full year of specialized experience comparable in scope and responsibility to the GS-09 grade level in the Federal service (obtained either in the private or public sectors) performing the following: (1) Planning and/or maintaining long-range forest management programs including timber sale and silvicultural service contract administration; (2) Providing program oversight on all projects related to special forest products, landscape forestry, reforestation, silvicultural treatments, etc.; (3) Developing plans, assessments, and recommendations for environmental assessments; (4) Conducting briefings or trainings on forest management activities/plans to other agencies, special interest groups, or the general public. -OR-
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