2014
GRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK
BIOLOGICAL SCIENCE TECHNICIAN – FIRE EFFECTS MONITOR
JOB INFORMATION
Announcement #:
AZSHRO 14-0XX DEU-TMP (to be determined)
“The Northern Great Plains fire effects monitor crewmember positions, Biological Science Technician,
GS-0404-05, opened today December 9 and will close on January 3. The full-time temporary seasonal
positions serve ten National Park Service units in ND, SD, NE, and WY. The position is based out of Wind
Cave N.P. in the Black Hills of southwestern South Dakota. The Northern Great Plains Fire Management
program uses prescribed fire as a management tool throughout the region and has an active monitoring
program that assesses whether burn objectives are met across a diverse landscape including parks in
mixed-grass prairie, ponderosa pine forest, and the "badlands" of North Dakota and South Dakota.
Please post on any list serves or job boards to spread the information on to all interested individuals.
Applications details can be found within the position announcement on the USA Jobs website. Vacancy
announcement # is MWW-DE-14-003 (984180).”
Application Period: Dec. 29, 2013 – Jan. 3rd, 2014
Application Website: http://www.usajobs.gov/
Grand Canyon National Park is recruiting for temporary, seasonal jobs monitoring the effects of fire
on vegetation and fuels. These biological technician positions are expected to begin work in early
May and finish in late September, with the possibility of extension into October or November.
Accommodations for a current student for a shorter season could be made. Work will be done on
both the North and South Rims, as well as occasionally on the neighboring Kaibab National Forest.
The rim environment is forested, with elevations between 6500-9200 feet and summer daytime
temperatures typically in the high 70s to high 80s. Work will be performed mostly outdoors,
establishing and measuring vegetation & fuels monitoring plots according to national Fire
Monitoring Handbook (FMH) and Composite Burn Index (CBI) standards, as well as local Rapid
Assessment Protocols (RAP) and Inventory & Monitoring (I&M) methods. Experience and interest
in outdoor field work and data collection, plus plant identification skills are desired. Plot
measurements include sampling trees, shrubs, grasses, forbs, litter, duff, and woody fuels. Good
physical fitness is also necessary for hiking cross-country while carrying 25 lbs. or more.
New for 2014, data collection and entry will be performed almost exclusively in the field on
Windows 8 rugged tablet computers. Office tasks including computer data quality-control checking
using custom FFI software and project work will comprise about 1/3 of job time. A variety of
technological gadgetry will be used for gathering data, including said tablets, Trimble PDAs/pocket
PCs, hypsometers, digital cameras, Garmin GPS units, and EBAM smoke monitoring units. Good
computer skills or a willingness to learn such skills are a must.
Although plot reading and data management are the primary responsibilities, collateral wildland and
prescribed fire duties may consume a noticeable amount of time if it is a busy fire season. These
positions are red-carded, so employees must either be currently trained wildland firefighters or have
already obtained that training before applying to the job (this is a mandatory screen-out
requirement). Two-week fire assignments to any part of the country are a possibility during the
work season, and employees may be expected to assist in-park suppression, prescribed fire, and
wildland fire for resource benefit efforts. This work may range from digging fireline with handtools
to igniting prescribed fires with drip torches to monitoring weather and fire behavior on natural,
lightning-caused fires in the backcountry. All fire effects crewmembers are expected to obtain S290
Intermediate Wildland Fire Behavior training and at least initiate a Fire Effects Monitor (FEMO)
taskbook for fire monitoring. Other fire skills and training courses will also be supported as time &
workload permit. Possibilities for a couple hundred hours of overtime and hazard pay exist, but are
not guaranteed. A uniform is required attire, but fire clothing (except boots) and crew t-shirts will
be provided.
Employees will be part of a 3 to 5-person fire effects crew, including one crew leader and an
assistant leader. Although the ability to work independently is a boon and will enhance the
efficiency of the crew, work will be done in a group setting a vast majority of the time. A willingness
to interact constructively and get along with fellow crewmembers is imperative. We continue to
refine new monitoring software and test new protocols which, combined with a busy monitoring
schedule and reduced crew size, will require an even greater eagerness to learn and work hard than
normal.
The crew works primarily in pinyon-juniper, pure ponderosa pine, mixed conifer, and subalpine
spruce-fir-aspen forests. Fire return intervals vary from 3-10 years for the pure ponderosa to 15-30
years with the addition of other, shorter-needled conifers and aspen to several hundred years in
spruce-fir or PJ forests. Prescribed burns are planned for the summer and fall on both North and
South Rims.
Plant ID and herbarium duties constitute a minor, rather than major, element of the job. This is not
primarily a plant IDing job. We need people who have strong outdoor veg. data collection skills,
who like to hike cross-country, who have good computer data entry skills, who have good plant ID
skills, who are willing and eager participants in fire activities, and who are good team members. But
the actual time spent on plant ID and herbarium specimen mounting will very likely be less than
10% of the job.
Government housing will be provided on the North Rim, but camping out for multiple days at a
time may be required. Housing will be single-room historic cabins, where dishes and cookware
won’t be present, but mice likely will. The North Rim is a remote location, 1.5 hours from the
nearest town. Work will be on the South Rim for 1-2 months at the start of the season, and possibly
the end of the season as well. Accommodations during South Rim work may consist of shared gov’t
housing, sharing a small travel trailer with 1-2 other employees, or camping out behind Fire Base.
There is also the possibility of travel to other parks in the Southwest such as Zion, Saguaro, and
Bandelier to assist with fire effects work. The likely work schedule will consist of 10-hour days, with
4 days on then 3 days off for normal work duties, and possibly 8 days on then 6 days off while
traveling for burns or as needed.
The GS-5 opening requires one prior year at a GS-4 level position, four years of college in a related
field of study, or an equivalent combination of experience and education. A GS-4 job requires 6
prior months at a GS-3 level position, two years of college in a related field of study, or an
equivalent combination. Applications must be submitted electronically as indicated at
www.usajobs.gov. Please see the announcements online for more specific information on
application procedures or contact us with any questions.
Li Brannfors
Lead Fire Effects Monitor
Windy Bunn
Fire Ecologist
li_brannfors@nps.gov
928-638-7942
Grand Canyon National Park
PO Box 129
Grand Canyon, AZ 86023
windy_bunn@nps.gov
928-638-7895