Forestry Technician (Tahoe National Forest)

The Great Basin Institute, in cooperation with the USFS, is recruiting Forestry Technicians to perform timber sale-preparation, vegetation management and restoration projects in the Sierra Nevada region. These projects all serve the Basin & Range Forestry program’s greater mission of helping the USFS in their critical goal of improving forest resilience in the face of worsening climate conditions and increased wildfire threats. The work that you will do directly improves the quality of these forests helping ensure they continue to thrive for generations to come. Technicians will serve vegetation management and fuels reduction efforts, supporting initiatives for healthy, productive, and resilient forest landscapes and resources. Project work may include post fire recovery efforts.

A Temporary Special Assignment (TSA) employee is one who is hired for a specific temporary assignment external from the institute’s administrative operations with one of GBI’s partners for 52 weeks or greater or less than 52 weeks and may work full-time (30 or more hours per week) or part-time (less than 30 hours per week).

Essential Job Functions may include the following:

Forestry Technicians will perform a wide variety of activities to support all stages of project work. Forestry duties may include, but are not limited to: 

• Timber sale unit boundary delineation and layout (GPSing, flagging, painting); 
• Tree species identification; Green and salvage timber marking and cruising; 
• General silviculture data collection; 
• Maintain field supplies; 
• Following directions of crew lead;
• Navigate to plots using GPS and/or topo map.

All procedures will be performed in compliance with silvicultural prescriptions based on forest and treatment type and land management goals. Data will be gathered using standard instruments, direct measurements, general observations and on-site inspections. Project-specific training will be provided on tree-species identification, GPS data collection, tree marking, hydrology, entomology/pathology, heritage, fire/fuels and other elements. Prior experience in basic GIS skills, GPS data collection, tree-species identification, timber marking and cruising, identifying hydrologic concerns, recognizing forest entomology/pathology issues, identifying heritage sites and experience with fire/fuels assessments or related field tasks is preferred.

Requirements/Qualifications

To perform this job successfully, employees must be able to satisfactorily carry out each essential duty. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable employees with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

At least one of the following:

• Bachelor’s degree from an accredited university in forestry (preferred), natural resource management, or a related field, with coursework and experience that demonstrate an understanding of the principles of forestry.
• Six months of professional fieldwork experience.

Other Requirements:

• Capacity to collect and maintain organized field data, ensuring accessibility to other resource staff.
• Strong communication skills, both written and oral, for engaging with diverse audiences.
• Proficiency in using handheld GPS units for navigation and data collection.
• Experience navigating with a compass and topographic maps.
• Valid, clean, state-issued driver’s license.
• Ability to live and work in rural and remote settings, both in field and office environments.
• Physical fitness to endure outdoor work, including carrying up to 50 pounds of equipment, and adapting to varied seasonal conditions in forested or high desert environments.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Familiarity with timber cruising and marking techniques.
• Understanding of resource management issues in western states and the Sierra Nevada ecoregion's ecology.
• Knowledge of mixed conifer forests typical to eastern California, including common woody and herbaceous plants, wildlife, geology, and topography.
• Experience operating and maintaining 4WD vehicles safely on varied terrain.
• Ability to interpret and implement established data collection, inventory, assessment, and monitoring protocols.
• Experience using ArcGIS to create maps (a plus).

LOCATION

This position is based out of the Sierraville Ranger District of the Tahoe National Forest (TNF). Field work will be conducted in various locations across the Sierraville and Truckee Ranger Districts of the TNF. Field work will typically require traveling to remote sites, with occasional office work for data entry and reporting. 

The Tahoe National Forest is located in the northern Sierra Nevada (east of Sacramento) and extends from the foothills across the Sierra Crest to the California state line. It includes over 850,000 acres of public land interspersed with 350,000 acres of private land. Rivers, snow-capped peaks and dense forests offer outstanding recreation year-round. A complex set of ecosystems are found as the terrain ascends from 1,500 feet along the western boundary to over 9,000 feet along the crest. The Sierraville Ranger District office is located in Sierraville, California, a small town on scenic Highway 89 located at approximately 5,000 feet in elevation. Communities within 30 minutes of Sierraville include Truckee, Loyalton, Calpine, and Portola.

WORK SCHEDULE

Projects begin as early as March and end as late as November. Season schedules are project specific. 

Most Forestry Crew positions follow 10 hour days, 4 days a week schedule. 

Temporary Special Assignment employees are eligible to receive holiday pay, if partner approved. TSAs holiday schedule will comply with the project partner holiday schedule, unless otherwise specified in their employment offer. TSAs working five (5) eight (8) hour days per workweek will be paid eight (8) hours for all holidays. TSAs working four (4) ten (10) hour days per workweek will be paid ten (10) hours for all holidays.  Same with other approved/allowable workweek configurations; these can be accommodated accordingly with Banked Holiday(s).

COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS

Wage: $21/hour with overtime at 1.5x hourly rate. Full time, average 40 hours per week

Housing is provided. 

In addition to a competitive base salary, this full-time, onsite position includes company-paid comprehensive medical, dental (with option to upgrade in coverage), and vision insurance, as well as $25,000 Life/AD&D policy. Voluntary short-term and long-term disability policies are available, and voluntary Life/AD&D policies for family members. Mental health support resources are employer provided, competitive PTO accrual, and paid holidays. This exciting role contributes to GBI’s significant positive impacts within the fields of environmental research, education, and conservation.

TO APPLY

Please submit an up-to-date resume, a one-page cover letter that details your interest in the position, any qualifications not fully outlined in your resume, and contact information for three professional references. Qualified applicants will be contacted to schedule an interview. For questions regarding this position, please contact bcarlile@gbinstitute.org

PHYSICAL DEMANDS  

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable employees with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to sit, use hands, stand, walk, bend, and have specific vision abilities to include close and distance vision, and ability to adjust focus working with computer business equipment and other job/industry specific equipment. The noise level in the work environment is usually low.

NOTE:  This job description is not intended to be all-inclusive. Employees may perform other related duties as negotiated to meet the organization's ongoing needs.

Disclaimer: Although the organization has attempted to accurately and thoroughly describe this position, GBI reserves the right to change the same, including to change, add to or subtract from the duties outlined, within the sole discretion of the organization, at any time, with or without advance notice.