Current Announcements and Jobs

Check out current and upcoming job opportunities with the USDA Forest Service.

This position will work with Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) staff and external agencies and groups for the development of prescribed fire planning, prioritization, coordination, and implementation of prescribed (Rx) burn projects for fire-dependent dry forest ecosystems located on WDFW wildlife lands. This position will provide the senior level leadership for all fuels and fire effects modeling, planning, implementation options, and timing to support the WDFW mission as well as multi-party project level monitoring plans that assess pre- and post-treatment fuels conditions and prescribed burning effects in a variety of different fuel models across Washington State.

Most of the work performed by this position is in Eastern Washington, though burn sites are statewide. The selected employee will have the option to work remotely when not in the field.  This recruitment is posted open continuously.

First review of applications will be April 5, 2023, application review will be ongoing.

CEMML is a research, education and service unit within the Warner College of Natural Resources at Colorado State University (CSU). CEMML applies the latest and most appropriate science to promote the sustainable management of natural and cultural resources on Department of Defense (DoD) and other public lands.

The incumbent will be a member of the Avon Park Wildland Support Module for the U.S. Air Force Wildland Fire Branch based at Avon Park Air Force Range, FL. The Wildland Support Module is responsible for implementing prescribed burns and responding to wildfires on Air Force property throughout the area of responsibility and the U.S.

CEMML is a research, education and service unit within the Warner College of Natural Resources at Colorado State University (CSU). CEMML applies the latest and most appropriate science to promote the sustainable management of natural and cultural resources on Department of Defense (DoD) and other public lands.

The incumbent will be a member of the Shaw Wildland Support Module for the U.S. Air Force Wildland Fire Branch based at Poinsett Electronic Combat Range, SC. The Wildland Support Module is responsible for implementing prescribed burns and responding to wildfires on Air Force property throughout the area of responsibility and the U.S.

The Lands Ecologist enables senior land managers and biologists to implement scientifically informed management of fish and wildlife resources by providing complex technical support on the topic of agricultural and rangeland management issues. They help design and conduct land and habitat monitoring in multiple areas of the state, interpret study and research findings for the benefit of internal and external stakeholders, and develop planning and permitting documents in fulfillment of funding and policy requirements. The Lands Ecologist will represent the Statewide Range Ecologist as needed in various meetings potentially involving public and private stakeholders, coordinated resource management agreements, the department’s activities on the Teanaway Community Forest, wildlife area plans, and/or similar scenarios.

Duties:

• Performs a variety of resource assessments, monitoring surveys, vegetation inventories, and research investigations addressing rangeland ecology and management.
• Recommends additional/alternative techniques as appropriate to improve confidence and effectiveness of assessments.
• Assists wildlife area managers to complete required elements of grazing permits and agricultural leases, including grazing management plans, HB 1309 Ecosystem Standards, maps, summaries, and checklists.
• Reviews and evaluates the timing, intensity, and location of land management actions, and recommend changes as appropriate to ensure benefits to fish, wildlife, and the department.
• Provides technical assistance and training that is based on scientific literature and understanding to department staff, including wildlife area managers and inter-program district and regional staff.
• Evaluates forage production and availability.
• Analyzes, evaluates, and interprets results to determine effects of rangeland and agricultural land management practices.

Oregon State University (OSU) Forestry & Natural Resources Extension Program is recruiting an energetic, creative, and collaborative individual committed to sustaining natural resources and strengthening communities and economies by serving as an Extension forester. This is a full-time, county-based Extension and fixed-term professorial position (professor of practice), covering Klamath and Lake Counties in Oregon.

This Extension forester will be part of the Forestry and Natural Resources (FNR) Extension team that provides non-formal education on forestry and natural resource issues to a wide range of audiences. “Non-formal” refers to off-campus, non-credit learning opportunities such as workshops, field trips, property tours, and demonstrations, as well as indoor presentations, narrative communications such as blog posts and other social media, videos, and articles. Educational audiences and partners may include adults who are private woodland owners, homeowners in the wildland-urban interface, professional natural resource managers such as foresters and forest workers, collaborative conservation groups and watershed councils, tribes, policymakers, economic development officials, and teachers. Extension foresters also commonly engage a broad spectrum of youth through teacher professional development or directly through outdoor schools, camps, and other youth events. Educational topics could include sustaining forest health, wildlife habitats, and forest productivity through subjects such as forest ecology, silviculture, wildfire preparedness, reforestation, forest restoration, water resources, climate change, bioenergy, and collaborative conservation and recreation.

The Extension forester will address clientele’s needs using their own skills and knowledge along with those of local partners and the collective resources of the FNR team, including the new Extension Fire Program. They will work independently, and also collaboratively with FNR colleagues to address both local and statewide needs. They will use modern learning tools including online and hybrid classes, to help Extension build a culture of engaged scholarship where we seek active partnerships between the university and community and promote integration of programs across disciplines. We rely on active and effective communication with colleagues, staff, partner organizations, and stakeholders. The position will require travel.

The Great Basin Institute (GBI) is an interdisciplinary field studies organization that promotes environmental research, education, and service through the west. The Institute’s mission is to advance applied science and ecological literacy through community engagement and agency partnerships, supporting national parks, forest, open spaces and public lands. The Ecological Monitoring Program at GBI serves as an excellent professional development opportunity for natural resource professionals looking for experience in botanical, soil, and rangeland surveys.

GBI is recruiting Post Fire Monitoring Technicians to work with GBI and USDI Bureau of Land Management (BLM) staff. Each technician will work with one other technician under the supervision of a Field Lead to characterize vegetation using BLM's terrestrial AIM (Assessment Inventory Monitoring) core methods.

Available Appointments:

• April 12th to September 29th
• May 29th to September 29th

The Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources at North Carolina State University is seeking an effective and dynamic educator to fill the Extension Specialist in Forest Management position. This is a full time, 1.0 FTE, 12-month professional staff position within the department’s 10-person Extension Forestry team of 4 faculty and 6 professional staff. The Department’s Extension team works collectively with faculty and staff in tourism and wood products to form the overall Extension program in the College of Natural Resources. The position is based in Raleigh, North Carolina, but requires travel throughout North Carolina. The Forest Management Specialist will provide leadership for the development, delivery, and evaluation of educational programming and materials with an emphasis on multi-use forest management and silviculture for woodland owners. Topics may include (but are not limited to) forest management, forest stewardship, reforestation, invasive species, wildlife, non timber forest products, and climate adaptation and mitigation. In addition, the Specialist will build collaborative partnerships with a variety of stakeholders including county Extension personnel, landowners, state and federal agencies, non-government organizations, natural resource professionals and others to increase the visibility and reach of Extension Forestry. They will be responsible for developing and delivering educational programming to diverse audiences, including stakeholders from diverse socio-demographic groups and with varied background knowledge of forest management.

Open until filled.

There are two post-doc positions available in a collaborative project between the Southern Research Station and Northern Research Station focused on remote sensing of forest vegetation.

The project's goal is to investigate the use of biometric plot data and Terrestrial Laser Scanning (TLS) data to improve the prediction and scaling of forest conditions (i.e. forest fuels, biomass, ecological conditions, fire effects, and other related metrics) across forested stands when coupled with landscape tree metrics derived from Airborne Laser Scanning (ALS). The project also aims to improve the scaling ability between TLS and ALS data within canopies, between phenological conditions, between ALS acquisitions, and between pre- and post- wildland fire conditions using creative approaches (e.g., machine learning, high-performance computing, surface modeling, spatial statistics and predictions, etc.). We encourage forward and outside-the-box thinking, field and laboratory work, and working with the larger LiDAR and fire modeling community, all for bridging fire science with fire management. The projected is focused in frequently prescribed burned pine-dominated ecosystems of the southeastern and northeastern U.S., where scaling of pre and post-burn scanning data could be highly utilized by forest managers in federal, state, and private lands management.
 
Postdocs will work with a well-established team of fire scientists at either the Forest Service Lab in Athens, GA or the Silas Little Experimental Forest in New Lisbon, NJ.

If interested, please contact:

• Dr. Louise Loudermilk (eva.l.loudermilk@usda.gov), Southern Research Station, Center for Forest Health and Disturbance, Athens, GA
• Dr. Mike Gallagher (michael.r.gallagher@usda.gov), Northern Research Station, Silas Little Experimental Forest, New Lisbon, NJ

Based on the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) reconsideration of the air quality criteria and the national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) for particulate matter (PM), the EPA proposes to revise the primary annual PM2.5 standard by lowering the level. The EPA also proposes revisions to other key aspects related to the PM NAAQS, including revisions to the Air Quality Index (AQI) and monitoring requirements for the PM NAAQS. The 60-day public comment period will be open until March 28, 2023.

• EPA factsheet on the proposed PM2.5 changes
• EPA's proposed changes to PM2.5 site

In an effort to continue to promote the scholarly pursuits and graduate level training within the global wildland fire community, in 2023 the International Association of Wildland Fire (IAWF) will again be awarding two graduate-level scholarships, each valued at $3,000USD to IAWF members who are Master of Science/Arts (MSc/MA) or Doctoral (PhD) students studying wildland fire or wildland fire related topics.

The Washington Resource Conservation and Development Council (WRCD) serves as a collaborative leader in community fire adaption, forest health and restoration, and salmon habitat restoration efforts, supporting four local natural resource coordinating groups through a fiscal sponsorship program.

As an integral part of the WRCD, the Strategy and Partnerships Director will seek to build partnerships at the local, state, and federal levels to help the WRCD acheive specific organizational needs and goals; find solutions and create positive outcomes and impacts to advance community and forest resilience in Washington.

Open Until Filled

The Great Basin Institute (GBI) and the USFS will host AmeriCorps Community Outreach Educator to support the Fire Prevention Education Project, a collaborative effort to provide expanded public education and outreach to reduce risk and potential impact of wildfire. The Institute and USFS will train and deploy Wildfire Community Outreach Educator to support targeted outreach to the general public, including property owners, visitors, and students. Educators will be trained to expand classroom education programs to include wildfire prevention messaging to schools to support Living with Fire (LWF) principles and strategies. In doing so, this project strives to meet benchmarks set for Fire Adapted Communities by unifying implementation measures with educational outreach and increasing the effectiveness of wildfire prevention strategies to improve community wildfire resilience.

Technicians will serve as crew members conducting Whitebark Pine surveys in high elevation alpine environments near Salmon, Challis, and Stanley, Idaho. Primary duties include collecting various metrics such as tree health, white pine blister rust presence, cone production, and characteristics of individual trees (height, diameter etc.).

Colorado Forest Collaboratives is now offering Professional Development Scholarships to attend the Colorado Wildland Fire Conference and the Cross-Boundary Landscape Restoration Workshop. Flexible funding to Remove Barriers to Attendance!

Some scholarships are available for members of Colorado forest collaboratives to attend the Colorado Wildland Fire Conference (application here), and support to attend the Cross-Boundary Landscape Restoration Workshop (application here). Applications accepted on a rolling basis; please apply early. Funding cannot be guaranteed to all who apply, and partial awards may be offered.

The Department of Wildland Resources (WILD) in the S.J. & Jessie E. Quinney College of Natural Resources at Utah State University seeks applicants for an Assistant Professor of Wildland Fire.  The role statement for the position consists of 80% extension, 10% teaching, and 10% service, and will be based in Logan, Utah on the USU campus, with an anticipated (but negotiable) start date of July 1, 2023. This is a fiscal-year (12-month) position.

Key areas of expertise will include wildland fire fuel reduction and management, treatments to build fire resistance and resilience, and post-burn restoration in both forest and shrubland/range ecosystems, including wildland-urban interface settings. The position will work cooperatively with other Extension personnel and faculty in WILD as well as with statewide Extension offices, and will be a source of information to other Extension personnel as well as to various public and private stakeholders.

For full consideration, application must be received by March 10, 2023.

Expected Dates: May 8, 2023 to October 22, 2023

As a member of the North Cascades fire effects monitoring crew, you will learn and use standard protocols to monitor the effects of prescribed fire on plants and fuels in a variety of unique fire dependent ecosystems. In addition to reading plots that burned in prescribed burns at several national parks, you may also assist the fire ecologist with fire ecology research.

Expected Dates: May 15, 2023 to August 20, 2023

The Student Conservation Association (SCA) Alaska All Female Fire Corps is a partnership between SCA and the National Park Service. It is a 14-week AmeriCorps program focused on leadership development, completing critical fuels reduction and fire mitigation service projects, and building a sense of community. As a member of a 4-person crew you will be led by one SCA Project Leader. If you’ve ever wanted to learn the hard and soft skills of being a conservation leader, come join this community of like-minded, service oriented individuals and help us tackle one of the nation’s most pressing conservation issues.

Expected Dates: April 11, 2023 to June 5, 2023

The Prescribed Fire Technician (PFT) will travel throughout the Ordway Glacial Lakes and Prairie Forest Border Ecoregion in central Minnesota serving on a 4-5 person crew. The PFT will assist with controlled burns and will be responsible for the preparation and implementation of prescribed fire on public lands and nature preserves. The PFT will perform other preserve management duties when conditions are not conducive for prescribed burning. Those duties include, but are not limited to, invasive species management, tree and brush removal, and other tasks.

Invasive and Restoration Interns at Malheur National Forest
The Malheur National Forest of the Pacific Northwest Region of the USDA Forest Service is seeking invasives and restoration interns for work in previous fire scars from 2020 to present. Expected Dates: May 29, 2023 to September 17, 2023.

Invasive and Restoration Interns at Mt. Hood National Forest
The Mt. Hood National Forest of the Pacific Northwest Region of the USDA Forest Service is seeking invasives and restoration interns for work in previous fire scars from 2020 to present. Expected Dates: May 29, 2023 to September 17, 2023.

Invasive and Restoration Interns at Umpqua National Forest
The Umpqua National Forest of the Pacific Northwest Region of the USDA Forest Service is seeking invasives and restoration interns for work in previous fire scars from 2020 to present. Expected Dates: May 29, 2023 to August 27, 2023.

In the northeast – the most forested, populated, and fastest-warming region of the contiguous United States – threats to forest ecosystem services are numerous and diverse. The Applied Forest and Fire Ecology Lab (AFFEL) at SUNY ESF seeks to address these threats by: 1) understanding how disturbance affects forest structure, composition, distribution, and function, 2) integrating this knowledge into the design of modern forest management strategies, tactics, and tools, and 3) testing efficacy through application. In general, AFFEL explores the hypothesis that disturbance is the key to forest resilience. Students can pursue any research idea within this broad theme.

The desired start date is May of 2023, but later or earlier dates are possible. Review of applications will begin on January 1, 2023. The position will remain open until filled.

The Ember Alliance is a national organization of fire practitioners, researchers, analysts, and instructors dedicated to increasing the pace and scale of prescribed fire and planning. The Ember Alliance is dedicated to supporting fire as a natural process in fire-adapted ecosystems on a landscape scale to improve ecosystem function and health and increase wildfire resilience.

The successful candidate will have strong leadership and organization skills, planning document generation experience, entrepreneurial attitude and aptitude, and a desire to support ecological forestry and fire practices. This position is not a primary fire position. Previous wildland fire operational experience is not required, but a desire to participate in prescribed fire is supported.

The Natural Resources Management and Environmental Sciences Department (NRES) in the College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, is seeking a full-time academic year, tenure-track Assistant/Associate Professor in Wildland Fire Management starting September 14, 2023. Candidates with industry or other professional experience are encouraged to apply. Rank and salary will be commensurate with qualifications and experience.

The ideal candidate will teach courses in support of the undergraduate Forest & Fire Sciences major, undergraduate Wildland Fire Ecology and Management minor, and graduate Master of Science program in Environmental Sciences & Management.  Additionally, the ideal candidate will build a research program focused on the emerging wildfire challenges faced by the state of California and the western United States more broadly. Teaching responsibilities and opportunities include the broad scope of wildland fire science including, but not limited to, topics such as wildland fire or fuels management, fire ecology, prescribed fire, fire & societal issues, fire protection in the wildland-urban interface,  wildland fire operations, and wildfire-climate change interactions. Candidates with a background suitable to support additional teaching needs within the Forestry and Fire Sciences major such as silviculture, forest operations, dendrology, and/or forest ecology are desired. Teaching and research involvement Cal Poly’s Swanton Pacific Ranch and with local, state, and national organizations is expected. Service activities will include participation in department/college/university committees and instructionally related activities.

Review begin date January 13, 2023. Applicants are encouraged to submit materials by January 13, 2023 for full consideration; however applications received after this date may be considered.

The Ember Alliance is a national organization of wildland fire practitioners, researchers, analysts, and instructors dedicated to increasing the pace and scale of prescribed fire. The Ember Alliance is dedicated to supporting fire as a natural process in fire-adapted ecosystems on a landscape scale to improve ecosystem function and health and increase wildfire resilience.

The Ember Alliance is filling positions in its prescribed fire module based on the Uwharrie National Forest, North Carolina.

These positions are open until filled with an initial assessment deadline of December 27, 2022.

Prescribed Fire/Fuels Module Leader (full time, 11-month position)
The Prescribed Fire/Fuels Module Leader position will play an integral role in reducing wildfire risk in central North Carolina. This position will serve as a key lead in day-to-day operations of a module focused on thinning forests and assisting partners on prescribed fire projects. The position is predominantly in the field, with potentially difficult environmental conditions such as cold weather, loose footing, and steep terrain. Module members will be required to pass the Arduous Work Capacity Test.

Prescribed Fire/Fuels Module Assistant (full time, 11-month position)
The Prescribed Fire/Fuels Module Assistant will play an integral role in reducing wildfire risk in central North Carolina. This position will assist in day-to-day operations of a module focused on thinning forests and aiding partners on prescribed fire projects. The position is predominantly in the field, in potentially difficult environmental conditions such as cold weather, loose footing, and steep terrain. Crewmembers will be required to pass the Arduous Work Capacity Test.

Prescribed Fire/Fuels Module Crewmember (full time, 11-month position)
The Prescribed Fire/Fuels Module crewmember will play an integral role in reducing wildfire risk in central North Carolina. This position will participate in day-to-day operations of a module focused on thinning forests and aiding partners on prescribed fire projects. The position is predominantly in the field, in potentially difficult environmental conditions such as cold weather, loose footing, and steep terrain. Crewmembers will be required to pass the Arduous Work Capacity Test.

Prescribed Fire/Fuels Module Crewmembers (2 seasonal, 4-6 month positions)
The Prescribed Fire/Fuels Module crewmember will play an integral role in reducing wildfire risk in central North Carolina. This position will participate in day-to-day operations of a module focused on thinning forests and aiding partners on prescribed fire projects. The position is predominantly in the field, in potentially difficult environmental conditions such as cold weather, loose footing, and steep terrain. Crewmembers will be required to pass the Arduous Work Capacity Test.

There’s no substitute for seeing a forest with one’s own eyes, but can Virtual Reality provide a similar learning experience? Penn State University and the U.S. Forest Service Pacific Southwest Research Station recently created a Virtual Reality field tour to help audiences visualize what different types of thinning and prescribed fire treatments look like in an immersive way. The ~21-minute tour uses ultra-high resolution 360-degree imagery shot from ground level to above the tree canopy and visits 12 locations in the ‘Variable Density Thinning’ study on the Stanislaus-Tuolumne Experimental Forest (Stanislaus National Forest, CA). Different thinning strategies are shown, including a ‘High Variability’ treatment designed to produce more of a group and gap structure – the type that was once common in mid-elevation mixed conifer forests of the Sierra Nevada shaped by frequent fire. This is compared with a standard relatively even crown spacing thinning and an unthinned control, all with or without the addition of prescribed fire. The tour app, built using tools for developing computer games, allows users explore each location with their computer mouse while the audio describes the scene.

Before full release, this tour is now being tested. Users are encouraged to fill out an optional short (less than 10 minute) questionnaire. The survey will help the developers evaluate potential usefulness of such technology for conveying concepts about forest structure, thinning, and prescribed fire. Responses from forest managers, fire managers, or policy makers are especially vital and currently underrepresented, but feedback from all audiences useful and welcome.