Urban Forester

City of St. Louis; St. Louis (MO); On-site; USD 70,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

City of St. Louis seeks an Urban Forester to analyze and guide urban forestry programs, maintain inventories of street and park trees, and review planting plans. You will develop and administer grants, collaborate with city officials and communities, and support landscape projects across neighborhoods.

The ideal candidate will have a forestry degree, ISA Arborist certification, and strong GIS and data-analysis skills. A valid Missouri driver’s license is required for field duties and inspections.

Qualifications

• A Bachelor’s degree in Forestry, Horticulture, Agriculture, or a directly related field is required.
• Certification as an Arborist (ISA) preferred; valid driver's license required.
• Proficiency with GIS (ArcGIS) and data management tools is desirable.

Responsibilities

• Develop forestry plans, write landscape ordinances, and assist with budgets.
• Provide technical forestry advice to City officials and stakeholders.
• Coordinate tree planting programs and maintain planting records.
• Inspect trees and conduct surveys to guide maintenance and removal programs.
• Participate in streetscape and park planning; engage with developers on tree plantings.
• Administer Forestry grants and use Cityworks or i-Tree software for reporting.

Skills

Data analysis

Verbal communication

Project management

Public speaking

Team leadership

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Forestry or related field

Tools

ArcGIS

GPS data collection

MS Word

MS Excel

MS Access

Job description

Job Description - Urban Forester (260000FM)

Job Description

Description

Position Grade: 209G

Department: Forestry Division

Job Type: Full-Time (Permanent)

Examination Number: EX1714

Location: St. Louis, MO

This is a position in the City of St. Louis Forestry Division responsible for technical analysis and arboricultural recommendations on all urban forestry programs and activities. Examples of duties include: developing and maintaining inventories of all City street and park trees; inspecting and keeping files of trees; developing and reviewing urban landscape and tree planting plans; and researching, developing, and administering grants for all City-wide arboricultural initiatives.

Essential Functions and Responsibilities:

• Assists in developing forestry plans, writing landscape ordinances, and developing budgets.
• Provides technical advice to City officials regarding forestry matters.
• Coordinates and promotes tree planting programs. Orders trees. Enters planting information into computer records, meets with neighborhood groups, youth groups, and others to assist with tree planting programs. Presents training for program participants.
• Surveys trees and tree health on City street rights-of-way, parks, and other City properties to develop tree maintenance and removal programs.
• Assists in the development of streetscape and park plans. Consults with developers regarding tree plantings and maintenance of existing trees.
• Completes and administers Forestry grants.
• Uses software such as Cityworks or i-Tree.
• Supervises the inventory of trees.
• Performs plant health care such as planting, watering, mulching, trimming, and pesticide application.
• Operates motor vehicle, chainsaw, pole saw, various hand tools.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

• Data Utilization: Requires the ability to perform mid-level data analysis including the ability to audit, deduce, assess, conclude and appraise. Requires discretion in determining and referencing such to established criteria to define consequences and develop alternatives.
• Human Interaction: Requires the ability to persuade, convince and influence city officials, developers, business representatives and the public; train and monitor employees/interns work, in favor of a desired outcome. Requires the ability to sell. Requires the ability to act as a lead person.
• Equipment, Machinery, Tools and Materials Use: Requires the ability to operate, maneuver and/or provide simple but continuous adjustment on equipment, machinery and tools such as computer terminal, telephone, calculator, and/or materials used in performing essential functions.
• Verbal Aptitude: Requires the ability to utilize a variety of reference, descriptive and advisory data and information such as planting requests, tree inventories, field surveys, landscape plans, diagrams, tree identification manuals, insect/disease identification manuals, budgets, requisitions, grant applications, grant reports, ordinances, statutes, procedures, guidelines and non-routine correspondence.
• Mathematical Aptitude: Requires the ability to perform addition, subtraction, multiplication and division; calculate percentages, fractions and decimals.
• Functional Reasoning: Requires the ability to apply principles of rational systems. Ability to interpret instructions furnished in written, oral, diagrammatic or schedule form. Ability to exercise independent judgment to adopt or modify methods and standards to meet variations in assigned objective.
• Situational Reasoning: Requires the ability to exercise the judgment, decisiveness and creativity required in situations involving the evaluation of information against sensory, judgmental and/or subjective criteria, as opposed to criteria that are clearly measurable or verifiable.
• Environmental Factors: Tasks may risk exposure to adverse environmental conditions, such as dirt, dust, pollen, wetness, humidity, rain, temperature extremes and traffic hazards while conducting field inspections.
• Physical Requirements: None.
• Sensory Requirements: Requires the ability to recognize and identify similarities or differences between characteristics of colors, shapes and sounds associated with job-related objects, materials and tasks to clearly distinguish objects, detect diseased trees and communicate with others.

Qualifications

A Bachelor’s degree in Forestry, Horticulture, Agriculture, or a directly related field; plus some experience in urban forestry or forestry management; OR an equivalent combination of education, training, and experience.

Preferences: Proficiency with computer programs such as MS Word, MS Excel, MS Access, GIS applications, GPS data collection, and software such as ESRI ArcGIS.

Certification: The successful candidate must receive certification as an Arborist as recognized by the International Society of Arboriculture (ISA) before completion of the working test period.

License: Must possess and maintain a valid driver's license while employed by the City of St. Louis. Must possess a valid driver's license at the time of filing application and be able to present it upon request. Please note type of license, number, class and expiration date on the Employment Application. Only qualified applicants who provide proof of a valid driver’s license will be considered for this position.

Scoring Components and Their Weights
Experience and Training: 100%
May be Subject to:
Background Investigation: Pass/Fail
Medical Examination: Pass/Fail

Documentation of Academic Credentials must be Submitted Upon Request

City Residence Preference Points

City residents who pass an examination for a position in the classified service and do not receive any other preference will receive a five (5) point preference on a scale of 100 points on the exam. An additional one (1) point shall be added to the passing score of City residents who receive any other preference on a scale of 100 points. City residents must have resided in the City for at least one (1) year at the time of filing their application to be eligible for the preference points.

• City of St. LouisCity Hall1200 Market StreetSaint Louis, MO 63103