Forestry Specialist: Field & GIS Programs Lead

State of Minnesota; Bagley (MN); On-site; USD 53,000 - 76,000; Full time

Job summary

The Forestry Specialist role with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources supports program tasks across all forestry programs to protect, manage, and utilize forest resources. Travel throughout Minnesota is involved for multi-day assignments and occasional weekends and holidays during wildfire risk periods.

The position requires rigorous fieldwork, ability to work independently in remote locations, and coordination with private landowners and agency partners.

Qualifications

• Two years of work experience in forestry.
• Bachelor's degree or higher in forestry or closely related field.
• Eighteen months of work experience in forestry AND an associate degree or higher in forestry or closely related field.
• Knowledge of dendrology, plant ID, and forest measurements sufficient to collect forest inventory, regeneration data and native plant community data.
• Knowledge of forest economics, mensuration, and harvest systems sufficient to design, appraise, administer, and scale timber sales.

Responsibilities

• Evaluate the condition of forest stands and apply native plant community guidelines, develop silvicultural prescriptions, and determine harvest systems to meet multiple resource goals.
• Appraise timber for sale, implement forest management guidelines, market permits to timber purchasers, administer state timber permits, and scale cut products.
• Visit forest stands impacted by insects, disease, or fire and create plans to respond to those effects.
• Create maps in GIS programs, analyze and interpret air photos, and use GPS and/or compass to navigate to forest stands to establish management boundaries.
• Engage in wildfire prevention and suppression activities to minimize threats to life, property, and resources.
• Collect forest inventory data using common forestry tools and mobile data recorders.
• Analyze forest inventory data, input into GIS databases, and adjust stand boundaries.
• Identify tree, shrub, and plant species common to Minnesota.
• Use the Ecological Classification System to determine native plant communities and update maps.
• Apply statistical methods to develop timber cruises and accurately estimate standing volume.
• Propose tree planting, site preparation, or timber stand improvement projects to meet management plan objectives.
• Locate, identify, and map instances of terrestrial invasive plants and propose treatments to control infestations.
• Lead seasonal or intermittent employees, student interns, and emergency hire firefighters to meet assigned objectives.
• Review and approve, or deny, burn permit requests.

Skills

Forestry knowledge

GIS

Wildfire management

Field data collection

Project planning

Public outreach

Leadership

Education

Bachelor's degree in forestry or closely related field

Associate degree in forestry or related field

Tools

ArcGIS / ArcPro

Excel

Outlook

Teams

Word

SharePoint

Adobe

Job description

The Forestry Specialist role with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources supports program tasks across all forestry programs to protect, manage, and utilize forest resources. Travel throughout Minnesota is involved for multi-day assignments and occasional weekends and holidays during wildfire risk periods.

The position requires rigorous fieldwork, ability to work independently in remote locations, and coordination with private landowners and agency partners.