NEPA & Stewardship Lead- Silviculturist (Fuels/Fires) Specialist - Umpqua NF

The Great Basin Institute (GBI), in partnership with US Forest Service (USFS), is seeking a NEPA Silviculturist (Fuels/Fires Specialist) / Stewardship Coordinator to lead a post fire assessment and NEPA while supporting implementation of recovery efforts on the Umpqua National Forest in southern Oregon. This dynamic position supports a FS interdisciplinary resource specialist team and manages subconsultants and seasonal support staff and contractors on forest. As both a scientist/forester and NEPA team member, the successful candidate must possess a working knowledge of environmental law, public land policy, and best management practices in forestry planning and ground based logging operations.

Duties will be both office-based (~60%), with opportunities to support with ongoing NEPA field assessments and forestry field work (~40%). Office-related work may include: data entry and verification, data organization and management, summarizing information, preparation of figures, report writing, mapping of treatment areas, and other tasks related to the completion of NEPA planning and the expedient implementation of forest projects.

Field assignments may be somewhat intermittent depending on project needs, but could involve resource monitoring; pre- and post-treatment inventory and assessment; model validation and ground truthing; imagery ground truthing; fire history sampling and dendrochronology and fire scar sampling. Stewardship oversight activities include unit lay out, stand exams, cruise, contract procurement, sale administration and harvest inspection.

In conjunction with USFS field and project supervisors, the Fuels/Fires Specialist will maintain the organization, integrity and accuracy of project data. The successful applicant will also need the skills and confidence to make decisions and exercise independent judgment to safely implement office and field tasks according to established protocols. This position will be responsible for creation and review of specific NEPA document sections, developing guidelines, design features/criteria, and instructions and oversight of the implementation phase of projects.

 

Essential Job Functions:
 

• Apply understanding of federal, state, and local regulatory requirements to determine the permitting strategy for projects
• Perform research, strategic consultation, and prepare sections of Environmental Assessments (EAs), Environmental Impact Statements (EISs), and other permitting documents
• Analyze environmental impacts from project activities and develop written descriptions of impacts for environmental documents
• Review and interpret technical reports on a variety of subjects primarily silviculture, forest resources/management, and fuels/fires (as well as air quality, archaeology, biology, botany, geology, historic resources, hydrology, public lands, recreation, soils, terrestrial wildlife, etc.) and summarize in non-technical language understandable to a layperson
• Develop and implement forest restoration actions utilizing guidelines derived from NEPA deliverables
• Manage subconsultants and forestry contractors and act as GBI’s IDT lead for a subset of the organization’s FS projects
• Contribute to partnership development activities, including client relations and proposal development for new project work
• Promote effective internal and external communication
• Provide cross-program/department support
• Perform/assist other program- or institute-level functions as needed

Contract Timeline:

Agreement is pending final signature from the USFS. Position will start between Dec 2023 and March 2024 depending on candidate pool and USFS personnel.
Position is an exempt, FT permanent for a multi-year agreement for 2-3 NEPA projects and an unknown acreage of implementation work. Minimum anticipated timeline is 3 years but could extend well beyond.

Location:

Roseburg, Oregon. The Umpqua National Forest protects 983,239 acres of forest across Douglas, Lane, and Jackson Counties. The Forest is headquartered in Roseburg and has four ranger districts: Cottage Grove, Diamond Lake, North Umpqua, and Tiller. The Forest is also the home of the Dorena Genetic Research Center and Wolf Creek Job Corps Center.  Roseburg rests within the Umpqua River Valley  and is the county seat and the most populous city of Douglas County.

Founded in 1851 (pop. 23,680), and adjoins both sides of the South Umpqua River. Roseburg's primary industries include timber and tourism, and the region is home to many vineyards and more than 30 wineries. The Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife lists more than 50 areas for fishing for salmon, steelhead, bass, bluegill and trout in the Roseburg area.

Compensation and Benefits:

Starting annual salary is $80k - $90k DOE. In addition to a competitive base salary, this full-time, onsite position includes comprehensive medical (premium 100% paid by GBI), dental, and vision insurance, as well as mental health support resources, 401(k) retirement savings with up to 4% GBI match, competitive PTO accrual, paid holidays (10 per year), and family leave. Total compensation package is $88k-$98k per year, DOE. This exciting role contributes to GBI’s significant positive impacts within the fields of environmental research, education, and conservation.

Job Qualifications:

Required Qualifications:

• Master’s Degree or a Bachelor’s Degree and a combination of academic and/or field experiences related to Forest Management/Forest Resources Management or Forest Resources Production and Management or Forest Sciences and Biology (with an emphasis on fuels/fires), or related field; Knowledge of the principles of silviculture, forest resources/management, and fuels/fires to collect and work with forestry and wildfire data, maintain research databases, evaluate data for accuracy, relevancy, and importance, and relate the significance of the results to the higher objectives to which the activity is related
• Strong written and oral communication skills, including the editing, oversight, and preparation of technical reports
• Willingness to learn about and assist with analysis of spatial data (e.g., home
  range calculation)
• Ability to work on several projects or issues simultaneously
• Demonstrable knowledge and experience in forestry best practices,
  contracting and logging operations
• Excellent critical thinking skills
• Ability to work collaboratively with a team in a fast-paced and creative
  environment
• Ability to work independently with a strong work ethic
• Excellent oral, writing, communication, presentation, strategic thinking, and “people” skills
• Possess a valid, state-issued driver’s license and clean driving record with experience operating 4WD trucks on and off paved roads, including narrow, mountain forest roads – use of ATVs could be expected in some winter conditions (training provided).

Preferred Qualifications:

• 5+ years of experience in silviculture, forest resources/management, and fuels/fires successfully managing and preparing environmental document sections and associated technical studies
• Experience with and an understanding of the environmental regulatory framework of the Northwest Forest Plan, applicable state and federal laws
  and USFS monitoring protocols for the USFS Region 6
• NEPA experience; Experience in forestry, fuels/fires, or other related project for forest health and post-fire recovery; Experience with Geographic Information Systems (GIS); Experience in environmental consulting
• Experience with conducting common stand exams, cruise, sale
  administration and harvest inspection

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 individuals 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-level. The overall nature of the position is sedentary, requiring little physical effort and
occasional light exertion. There is occasional exposure to environmental conditions such as heat, cold, and temperature changes.