The Forest Service via the National Forest Foundation is setting up a series of roundtables to get feedback and help on carrying out their Wildfire Strategy. Check out the NFF site here.
In January 2022, the USDA Forest Service released Confronting the Wildfire Crisis: A Strategy for Protecting Communities and Improving Resilience in America’s Forests. The Forest Service is working to develop a “living” 10-year Implementation Plan for working with partners across jurisdictions to change the trajectory of wildfire risk. The recently enacted Bipartisan Infrastructure Law provides an essential down payment on the resources needed to perform this work.
Everyone has a leadership stake in moving from small-scale, independently managed treatments to strategic, science-based, landscape-scale treatments that cross boundaries at the scale of the problem, starting initially with those places most critically at risk. Ongoing communication about the 10-year strategy and implementation plan among the Forest Service, States, Tribal entities, and non-governmental partners is welcomed and encouraged.
Here’s a link to the kickoff presentation.
Below are some of the summary slides of the info they’ve already received. What do you think? Anything you would add/delete or finesse?
Apparently, the fire folks aren’t going to have a need for timber management work. Nothing about needing more Ologists and timber crews. Yes, they recommend a large increase in permanent fire crews, though. No one knows what a “21st Century forestry workforce” looks like. One fifth of this century is already gone and we’re still stuck in the Reagan era.
Larry, I think there is a big hiring thing going on now at the FS. Check it out!!!!https://www.fs.usda.gov/working-with-us/jobs/events
Becki Heath has told me that the FS is looking for help also via the ACES program.https://www.fs.usda.gov/working-with-us/aces-program
Note that:
Who is Eligible to Become an ACES Enrollee?
“Applicants must be age 55 or over and able to provide services required for the positions, having knowledge in conservation-related programs. ACES enrollees do not have to be former federal employees. For retired federal employees, there is no waiting period after retirement before a qualified retired employee is eligible to become an ACES enrollee.”
So you don’t have to be a former Fed to participate.
If I was looking for a job, personally, I would only apply for the permanent jobs, leaving Temporary Appointments as a ‘Plan Z’. While there currently isn’t much information about the Forestry Technician jobs (from the “Hiring Event” link), the Outreach page does show lots of places that will be filling permanent lower level timber jobs. Of course, each unit will want to be hiring their own Temps into Permanent Seasonal, but with many jobs being flown, there may not be many ‘diverse’ candidates that qualify for GS-5 positions (the lowest offered, for now). I did not see any Forestry Technician timber jobs above GS-7. I also did not see any Harvest Inspector positions, at any grade. Region 5, alone, needs hundreds of timber positions, beyond their normal Temps. It is doubtful that they will find enough ‘warm bodies’ to fill them all. Some Ranger Districts get less than 10 applicants for summer timber jobs.