Forestry Technician (Lookout)

Forest Service (DOA); Adin (CA); On-site; USD 22,000 - 32,000; Full time

Job summary

The USDA Forest Service is seeking a Forestry Technician to provide fire detection services at various California locations. The position entails locating observed smoke, reporting fire data, and coordinating with dispatch and suppression teams in a full-time, temporary capacity.

Responsibilities include maintaining lookout stations, relaying weather and fire information, and promoting fire prevention programs to the public. Open to eligible applicants; travel may be required.

Qualifications

• Maintaining records, log books and lookout equipment.
• Promoting the fire prevention program by explaining laws, policies, and regulations to visitors.
• Receiving and relaying fire and administrative data to dispatch and officials.

Responsibilities

• Locate observed smoke using standard fire finders, compass, binoculars, maps.
• Plot fire locations and report azimuth, distance, and smoke characteristics.
• Observe area for changes and report to dispatch.
• Evaluate weather conditions and advise fire suppression personnel.
• Maintain lookout station and grounds in neat condition.
• Operate radio center connecting to lookout stations and dispatch centers.
• Relate weather forecasts and fire hazards to personnel.

Skills

Maintaining records

Lookout equipment

Relaying data

Fire prevention education

Education

Bachelor’s degree or 4 years in forestry/natural resources

Job description

Summary

This position is located within a National Forest. The purpose of the position is to provide fire detection services to district fire suppression personnel. Learn more about this agency

Locations

• Adin, CA
• Alpine, CA
• Alturas, CA
• Beckwourth, CA
• Blairsden, CA
• Camino, CA
• Camptonville, CA
• Canby, CA
• Challenge, CA
• Covelo, CA
• Forest Ranch, CA
• Foresthill, CA
• Fort Jones, CA
• Gasquet, CA
• Georgetown, CA
• Groveland, CA
• Happy Camp, CA
• Hat Creek, CA
• Janesville, CA
• Kernville, CA
• Klamath River, CA
• Lake Isabella, CA
• Macdoel, CA
• Mad River, CA
• McCloud, CA
• Mi-Wuk Village, CA
• North Fork, CA
• Orleans, CA
• Paynes Creek, CA
• Pinehurst, CA
• Pollock Pines, CA
• Prather, CA
• Quincy, CA
• Redding, CA
• Sierraville, CA
• Springville, CA
• Susanville, CA
• Tulelake, CA
• Upper Lake, CA
• Weaverville, CA
• Willow Creek, CA

Employment Details

• Telework eligible: No
• Remote job: No
• Relocation expenses reimbursed: No
• Salary: $19.52 – $19.52 per hour
• Pay scale & grade: GS 5
• Promotion potential: None
• Work schedule: Full-time
• Travel Required: Occasional travel – You may be expected to travel for this position.
• Appointment type: Temporary
• Occupations and job series: 0462 Forestry Technician
• Supervisory status: No
• Federal service type: This job is in the Competitive Service
• Represented by a union: No
• Drug test: No
• Security clearance: Other
• Financial disclosure required: No – Some jobs require financial disclosure to identify conflicts of interests.
• Announcement number: 27-TEMP3-R5-FS3451-5DH
• Control number: 890777000

Eligibility

• Open to: The public
• U.S. Citizens, Nationals or those who owe allegiance to the U.S.
• Applications will be accepted from any U.S. citizen. Direct Hire Authority under the USDA Demonstration Project will be used to fill this position. Veterans Preference and traditional rating and ranking of applicants does not apply to this vacancy.

Duties

• Uses standard fire finders, compass, binoculars, protractors, and geographic maps to locate observed smoke. Estimates distance to smokes and probable size and characteristics of fires.
• Plots location of fires using specialized equipment. Reports azimuth, distance, location, volume, color, behavior of smoke, and other pertinent information by radio.
• Continues to observe the area and reports significant changes such as increased smoke, wind conditions, changes in color or volume of smoke, etc to dispatch.
• Evaluates changing conditions with the use of weather instruments to interpret fire weather data, then advises Fire Suppression personnel of those changes.
• Uses radio communications to warn personnel involved in the response to fires of changes that may affect them.
• Observes ground lightning strikes, reports resultant fires, and records storm path to assist in the observation for hold over fires.
• Records and reports daily weather observations and records. Maintains photo records and log books identifying the source and duration of smoke plumes. Makes minor adjustments to and maintains lookout equipment.
• Maintains station and grounds in a neat and orderly condition. Operates a radio communications center which connects to other lookout stations, lookouts, agencies, and two interagency dispatch centers.
• Receives and relays messages and information received relating to weather forecasts, fire hazard conditions, fire emergencies, accidents, and location of work crews and personnel.
• Communicates the location of known down strikes and fires to aircraft during recon activities. Serves as key contact at a lookout station visited by large numbers of people during the fire season.
• Promotes the fire prevention program by explaining State and Federal laws, policies, and regulations, as well as fire prevention methods and procedures and fire hazard conditions.
• Patrols district one day per week; maintains prevention signs; changes out prevention signs as needed; issues campfire permits; explains state and federal laws to visitors during patrol.
• Reviews documents and reports for completeness and enters pertinent information into an automated tracking system; independently conducts the full range of database searches.
• Reviews and processes documents and reports in accordance with established procedures.

Conditions of employment

• You must be a US Citizen or US National.
• Males born after 12/31/1959 must be Selective Service registered or exempt.
• Subject to satisfactory adjudication of background investigation and/or fingerprint check.
• Direct Deposit Per Public Law 104-134 all Federal employees are required to have federal payments made by direct deposit to a financial institution of your choosing.
• Must be 18 years of age.
• Successfully pass the E-Verify employment verification check. To learn more about E-Verify, including your rights and responsibilities, visit E-Verify.gov.
• Willing to live/work in remote locations (volatile/unpredictable).

Qualifications

In order to qualify, you must meet the eligibility and qualifications requirements as defined below by the closing date of the announcement. For more information on the qualifications for this position, visit the Office of Personnel Management’s General Schedule Qualification Standards.

Your application and resume must clearly show that you possess the experience requirements. Transcripts must be provided for qualifications based on education. Provide course descriptions as necessary.

GS-05: Applicants must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least GS-4 grade level; OR a bachelor’s degree or 4 years of successfully completed education above high school (120 semester/180 quarter hours) with major study in forestry, range management, agriculture, or a subject‑matter field directly related to the position, or that included at least 24 semester hours in any combination of courses such as forestry, agriculture, crop or plant science, range management or conservation, wildlife management, watershed management, soil science, natural resources, outdoor recreation management, civil or forest engineering, or wildland fire science (no more than 6 semester hours in mathematics is creditable); OR combinations of successfully completed post‑high school education (in excess of the first 60 semester/90 quarter hours) and specialized experience. The education must have been obtained in an accredited college or university.

Examples of specialized experience include: Maintaining records, log books and lookout equipment. Maintaining lookout station and grounds in a neat and orderly condition. Receiving and relaying a variety of fire and administrative data and keeping dispatcher/fire officials informed of current conditions. Promoting the fire prevention program by explaining State and Federal laws, policies, and regulations to visitors.

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.

To receive consideration for this position, you must provide updated required documents and meet all qualification requirements by the closing date of this announcement.

Additional information

PLEASE NOTE: This vacancy is being used to fill positions for FY2027 Temporary Employment Hiring season. The expected start date for this position will be between April 18, 2027 to June 13, 2027.

By selecting the “Location Negotiable” option during the application process, implies your willingness to be considered for any official duty location listed on this announcement and/or those duty locations not listed for this Regional announcement. Pay rates vary depending on location. The salary shown is for the Rest of the U.S. See OPM.gov for additional information on pay rates.

This position is temporary, has a Not-to-Exceed date and will be filled for up to 6 months or as a not to exceed (NTE) 1 year, however an extension of the appointment may be possible without further competition. The appointment may also end early due to lack of work or lack of funds.

Applicants who apply under this job opportunity announcement agree to have their application, associated documents and applicable personal information shared with other groups within the Region who have vacancies within the same occupational series, grade, full performance level and in any of the geographic location(s) listed on the announcement. Applying to this announcement does not replace the need to apply to other job opportunity announcements for which you wish to receive consideration.

The duty station for this position will be at one of the duty locations listed in this announcement. Salary range as shown is the locality pay Rest of U.S. (RUS). Pay rates vary by location. Please visit the Office of Personnel Management’s website for additional information on pay rates.

The USDA Forest Service has legislative authority to recruit and fill Permanent (Career/Career-Conditional), Temporary, and Term Appointments under the USDA Demonstration Project. Under this authority, any U.S. citizen may apply.

Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) or Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP): To exercise selection priority for this vacancy, CTAP/ICTAP candidates must meet the basic eligibility requirements and all selective factors. CTAP/ICTAP eligible must meet the agency’s definition for a quality candidate as provided in the How You Will Be Evaluated section of this announcement to be considered.

If you are retired from the Federal Government and are selected for this vacancy, your retirement annuity may be offset from your pay.

This position is not eligible for telework.

Availability of government housing and federal day care facilities will vary by location.

Positions filled from this announcement may be a bargaining or a non‑bargaining unit position represented by either NFFE, AFGE or NAGE.

Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.

Benefits

A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Opens in a new windowLearn more about federal benefits.

Review our benefits Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.

Required documents

• Resume that includes: Personal Information: name, address, contact information; Education ; Work Experience related to this position as described in the major duties including work schedule, hours worked per week, dates of employment; title, series, grade (if applicable); other qualifications . Resume cannot exceed 2 pages.
• If education is required or you are using education to qualify, you must submit a copy of your college transcripts. An unofficial copy is sufficient with the application if it includes your name and the necessary course information; however, if selected, you will be required to submit official transcripts prior to entering on duty. Education must have been successfully obtained from an accredited school, college or university. If any education was completed at a foreign institute, you must submit with your application evidence that the institute was appropriately accredited by an accrediting body recognized by the U.S. Department of Education as equivalent to U.S. education standards. There are private organizations that specialize in this evaluation and a fee is normally associated with this service. For a list of private organizations that evaluate education, visit the NACES website. All transcripts must be in English or include an English translation.
• Surplus or displaced employees eligible for CTAP, RPL, or ICTAP priority must provide: proof of eligibility (RIF separation notice, notice of proposed removal for declining a transfer of function or directed reassignment to another commuting area, notice of disability annuity termination), SF-50 documenting separation (as applicable), current performance appraisal with rating of at least “Fully Successful” or equivalent, and your most recent SF-50 noting position, grade level, and duty location with your application per 5 CFR 330.

Agency contact information

HRM Contact Center

Phone: [phone] X2

Email: [e-mail]

Address: USDA Forest Service HRM Contact Center, Albuquerque, NM 87109, US

Fair and transparent

The Federal hiring process is set up to be fair and transparent. Please read the following guidance.

Criminal history inquiries Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Policy Financial suitability New employee probationary period Privacy Act Reasonable accommodation policy Selective Service Signature and false statements Social security number request