Land Law Examiner
What you'd do
You will serve as a Land Law Examiner with Bureau of Land Management adjudicating rights and privileges under the laws that govern the use and disposition of public lands and resources. You will research and make decisions on applications and claims for land use, minerals leasing, and mining on public lands.
Major duties
Rate of Pay by Location: Silt, Colorado Rate of Pay $40,736 - $80,243 per year. Durango, Colorado Rate of Pay $40,736 - $80,243 per year. Canon City, Colorado Rate of Pay $41,811- $82,362 per year. Duties: Some of the major duties you will perform include but are not limited to the following: Collects data on a variety of assigned cases related to lands, oil and gas, mining or minerals cases. Determines the accuracy and proper execution of applications or claims and the qualifications of applicants for legal rights as requested. Adjudicate routine lands, mining, or mineral leasing applications filed which have more complex statutory and regulatory provisions, require development and review of a considerable amount of data and involve controversial factual situations. Determines the accuracy and proper execution of applications or claims and the qualifications of applicants. Prepares routine correspondence, including decisions, to process cases. Drafts progressively complex adjudication decisions (concerning lands, mining, oil and gas, or mineral leasing cases). Independently gathers and researches information and data necessary to complete and adjudicate a legal document. Utilizes data, systems and applications to collect, enter, manipulate, update and maintain data according to prescribed Bureau and program standards. Duties will be developmental in nature when filled below the full performance level.
What you need to qualify
All qualifications must be met by the closing date of this announcement - 08/13/2026-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. To qualify for this position at the GS-05 grade level: Experience: To qualify, you must possess at least three (3) years of general experience one (1) year of which was equivalent to at least a GS-4. General experience is defined as demonstrated experience: that provided a familiarity with real property laws and legal land descriptions, land titles, tract maps, and legal documents, or other experience that involved explanation, application, or interpretation of laws, regulations, policies, etc. Such experience may have been gained in positions such as law clerk, claims examiner, contact representative, or other work dealing with laws, rules, regulations, procedures, etc. -OR- Education: Four-year course of study leading to a bachelor's degree. -OR- Combination of education and experience as listed above. You must include hours per week and transcripts. To qualify for this position at the GS-07 grade level: Experience: To qualify, you must possess at least one full year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-05 level in the Federal service (obtained in either the public or private sectors). Specialized experience is defined as demonstrated experience: Determining the accuracy and proper execution of applications or claims and the qualifications of applicants for legal rights as requested; Adjudicating routine lands, mining, or mineral leasing applications; Answering inquiries from the public or internal customers regarding public land laws and regulations; Preparing routine correspondence. You must include hours per week worked. -OR- Education: Successful completion of at least one full year of graduate level education. This includes or supplemented by 12 semester hours of course work related to the administration of land laws. Examples: include course work in land surveying, cartography, land use law, real estate law, land appraising, land use planning, water rights, mining laws, or legal instrument review and interpretation. You must include transcripts. -OR- Combination of education and experience as listed above. You must include hours per week and transcripts. -OR- Superior Academic Achievement (SAA): I have successfully completed all of the requirements for a bachelor's degree in a curriculum that is qualifying for this position as described above from an accredited college or university, and meets one of the requirements for Superior Academic Achievement based on the following: (1) class standing (upper third standing in the graduating class of a college, university, or major subdivision, such as the College of Liberal Arts or the School of Business Administration, based on completed courses); (2) grade-point average (3.0 or higher out of a possible 4.0) as recorded on the official transcript, or as computed based on 4 years of education, or (3.5 or higher out of a possible 4.0) based on the average of the required courses completed in the major field or the required courses in the major field completed during the final 2 years of the curriculum; (3) election to membership in a national scholastic honor society (NOTE: You must submit a copy of your official transcripts that show a confer/completion date and any additional documentation to support your response to this question). Applicants applying under SAA must have 12 semester hours of course work related to the administration of land laws. Examples include course work in land surveying, cartography, land use law, real estate law, land appraising, land use planning, water rights, mining laws, or legal instrument review and interpretation. Transcripts must be provided. To qualify for this position at the GS-09 grade level: Experience: To qualify, you must possess at least one full year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-07 level in the Federal service (obtained in either the public or private sectors). Specialized experience is defined as demonstrated experience: Processing and/or adjudicating basic lands and minerals cases; Researching and reviewing legal land descriptions and ownership status from various map and records sources; Using basic computer and software applications to handle data; and Communicating effectively with internal and external customers on routine topics. You must include hours per week worked. -OR- Education: Successful completion of at least a Master's or equivalent graduate degree or two full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.B. or J.D in a field of study such as land surveying, cartography, land use law, real estate law, land appraising, land use planning, water rights, mining laws, or legal instrument review and interpretation. You must include transcripts. -OR- Combination of education and experience as listed above. You must include hours per week and transcripts. Volunteer Experience: 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.
Before you apply
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