Forester

Forester is responsible for developing Forest Management Plans and Forest Operating Plans for the Agency reservations.  Incumbent may serve as the facilitator for Integrated Resource Management Plans (IRMP’s) when timber is one of the major resources.  When not serving as the facilitator, forester will serve as a member of the Interdisciplinary Planning Team. Writes or contracts for the writing of Environmental Assessments (EA’s) or Environmental Impact Statements (EIS’s) required for Forest Management Plans.

Forester is responsible for the Agency’s Forest Management Planning Inventory program, including   Continuous Forest Inventory (CFI) and other temporary forest-wide inventories.  Forester designs and implements reservation-wide forest inventories to meet required accuracy standards and management plan needs.  Maintains the forest inventory databases and analyzes data to support management planning.  Incumbent coordinates the completion of Forest Inventory Analyses (FIA) for each reservation, after a reservation wide forest inventory is completed.  This establishes Annual Allowable Cut (AAC) volumes and acres.

Forester is also responsible for helping implement all aspects of the timber sale program for the GLA.  Guided by Tribal management plans and stand data, the individual develops cutting schedules, and prepares timber sales for the orderly and systematic harvest of timber.  Field work includes; timber cruising, habitat typing, assisting with archaeological surveys, property boundary location, timber marking, scaling and timber harvest contract monitoring.  Office/administrative work includes; securing land owner approval, preparing stumpage appraisals, mapping, cruise analysis, developing silvicultural prescriptions, writing Forest Officer Reports and contract documents, maintain records and submitting reports, and requesting stumpage monies and tracking contract stumpage balances.

Forester serves as the Geographical Information System (GIS) specialist for the Branch of Forestry.  Conducts data capture of resource information (e.g., roads, lakes, soils, timber types, etc.), maintains the database information, and produces forestry maps on the GIS system.

Basic Requirements:

A.    Degree in forestry or a related subject-matter field, which includes a total of at least 30 semester hours in any combination of biological, physical, or mathematical sciences or engineering of which as least 24 semester hours of course work were in forestry.  The curriculum must be sufficiently diversified to include courses in each of the following areas:

Management of Renewable Resources—study of the science and art of managing renewable resources including courses, such as silviculture, forest management operations, timber management, wildland fire science or fire management, utilization of forest resources, forest regulations, recreational land management, watershed management, and wildlife or range habitat management.

Forest Biology—study of the classification, distribution, characteristics and identification of forest vegetation and the interrelationships of living organisms to the forest environment including courses such as dendrology, forest ecology, silvics, forest genetics, wood structure and properties, forest soils, forest entomology, and forest pathology.

Forest Resource Measurements and Inventory—sampling, inventory, measurement and analysis techniques as applied to a variety of forest resources including courses such as 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, or 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.