OUTREACH NOTICE
Assistant Director Renewable Resource Management
(Vegetation Management and Forest Products)
GS-0401-14
Northern Region (R1)
Missoula, Montana
Assistant Director for Natural Resources
(Vegetation Management and Forest Products)
GS-0401-14
Pacific Northwest Region (R6)
Portland, Oregon
Duty Stations: Missoula, Montana
Portland, Oregon
Introduction
This outreach notice is to solicit expression of interest for two positions: the Assistant Director of
Renewable Resource Management, within the Renewable Resource Management Director area of the
Northern Region (R1) of the USDA Forest Service; and, for the Assistant Director for Natural Resources
(Vegetation Management and Forest Products) of the Pacific Northwest Region (R6) of the USDA Forest
Service.
The Northern Region (R1) consists of ten National Forests and one National Grassland. The various units
fall within the following western states: Montana, Idaho, South Dakota, North Dakota, and Washington.
The focus of this position is to provide administrative support, leadership and expertise regarding regional
vegetation management, including the forest products and vegetation inventory work groups. The
position also shares responsibility with both the Director and Deputy Director for the full breath of
programs within RRM staff area, including soil, air, silviculture, vegetation inventory, watershed, water
rights, fisheries, wildlife, rare plants, botany, TES, ecology, noxious weeds as well as forest and
rangeland management.
The Pacific Northwest Region (R6) consists of sixteen National Forests, one National Grassland, and one
National Scenic Area comprising 24.7 million acres across Oregon and Washington. The position
provides leadership and technical expertise in guiding implementation of the Regional forest management
program including management and oversight of an integrated biometrics program and programs
including silviculture, forest ecology, native plants, genetics and forest products. The Assistant Director is
the direct supervisor of nine GS-13 program managers and, together with the Assistant Director for
Natural Resources (Wildlife, Fisheries, Water, Soils, Air, Range) and the Director of Natural Resources,
is responsible for the administrative and technical supervision necessary for accomplishing the work of
this 50 position unit.
Major Duties
The Northern Region (R1) Assistant Director is the focal point for the region’s forest product,
vegetation inventory and silviculture/reforestation programs within a complex and challenging operating
environment. The position provides key leadership to programs related to forest products, including, but
not limited to, timber sale preparation, administration, stewardship contracting, trust fund coordination,
special forest products, and timber sale financial management.
The Assistant Director also has oversight for leadership and supervision of the Regional Vegetation
Inventory staff. This staff group provides regional inventory and data analysis support across the Region,
including multi-scale analysis that includes multi-forest assessments, forest planning, and project
planning.
The Regional Silviculture working group, including reforestation, vegetation data base
management/timber information systems, is also supervised by this position. The Reforestation specialist
is shared within the interior west Regions 1-4.
This is an exciting position that provides oversight to high profile programs that have regional and
national significance, such as stewardship contracting and agreements, small business administration, plus
a state-of-the-art integrated vegetation classification system. The staff area also includes the supervision,
management and strategic direction for the Region One Timber Sale Strike Team that assists Units in
completing timber sale preparation and inventory work across the region and nationally.
This position plays a key role as contact for other federal, state and tribal land management agencies, and
also to key external organizations including timber industry, collaborative groups, environmental
organizations, and others. The incumbent provides oversight and supervision to six regional program
leaders, and serves as regional CFLRP coordinator.
The Pacific Northwest Region (R6) Assistant Director is the focal point for the region’s forest product
and ecology programs within a complex and challenging operating environment. The position provides
key leadership to programs related to forest products, including, but not limited to biometrics, timber sale
preparation/appraisals, silviculture, timber sale/stewardship contracting, logging systems engineering,
forest ecology, native plants, genetics, special forest products and vegetation management program
This is an exciting and challenging position that provides oversight to high profile programs that have
regional and national significance which include five CFLR projects (of 20 nationally); an ambitious
strategy to increase the pace and scale of restoration across R6, particularly in eastern OR and WA in the
near term; and, continuing implementation of the Northwest Forest Plan. The staff area also includes the
supervision, management and strategic direction for the Region 6 Timber Sale Strike Team that assists
Units in completing timber sale preparation and inventory work across the region and nationally. This
strike team will be formed and initiated in FY16.
This position plays a key role as contact for other federal, state and tribal land management agencies, and
also to key external organizations including timber industry, collaborative groups, environmental
organizations, and others. The incumbent provides oversight and supervision to nine regional program
leaders.
Community Information
Missoula, Montana draws people from diverse backgrounds. Missoula is nestled in the Rocky Mountains
of western Montana. This scenic city is bustling with activity, as western Montana's regional source for
business, culture, medical services, retail, and entertainment. There are endless opportunities for fishing,
thousands of miles of trails, and plenty of guides and shops to clue you in on the hot spots. With an area
population of more than 70,000, Missoula has what you'd expect to find in a big city--a wide range of hotels,
restaurants, shops and galleries, several museums, a ballet company, live theater and a symphony. It's also
home to The University of Montana, laid-back coffee houses, historic bars and cozy bookstores. As a natural
outdoor playground it's unparalleled, and yet Missoula is one of the most dynamic cultural centers in the
Northwest. Missoula is a major retail and medical hub in Western Montana and claims one of the nation's
highest doctors to patient ratios. A wide variety of specialty, discount, and budget shopping centers make
Missoula the retail hub for an estimated 200-mile radius. The Missoula school system is considered
excellent with three public and two private high schools, numerous elementary schools, a College of
Technology and the University of Montana.
Missoula serves a trade area in excess of 300,000 and therefore, has more amenities and services than most
cities of its size. The foundations of Missoula's economic base are wood and paper products, Federal
Government, motor carriers and the University. There is a great diversity of neighborhoods and residential
settings within the community and surrounding area ranging from urban to very rural.
There are an abundance of recreation facilities and opportunities located in and around the Missoula area.
These include: public golf courses, parks, tennis courts, swimming pools, health clubs, racquetball courts,
YMCA, softball diamonds, hiking trails, ice skating rink, including hockey and curling. There are many
rivers in the area for rafting, fishing and swimming. Snowbowl ski area is less than an hour's drive from
town and within a two-hour drive are Discovery, Lost Trail and Lookout Pass. Also close to Missoula are
numerous cross country ski trails, and snowmobile trails.
Missoula has two large hospitals, which provide a full array of inpatient and outpatient services. Missoula
has many other health care practitioners to offer.
Missoula residents enjoy all four seasons of the year. The elevation is 3,205 feet, with an average annual
temperature of 45 F, with a January daily minimum of 15.5 F. and July daily maximum of 83.4 F. The
growing season averages 137 days, an average mean rainfall of 13.5 inches, and an average mean snowfall
of 42.5 inches.
Montana has personal income tax and property tax, but NO sales tax.
Additional Information: If you would like additional information about the city of Missoula, you can
contact the Missoula Chamber of Commerce at (406) 543-6623. Extensive additional information on the
Missoula area can be found on the internet at http://www.missoula.com
Portland, Oregon is…cool, hip, and fun, an all-around great place to live and work.
We are located in Northwestern Oregon, bordering Vancouver, Washington. The major highways
intersecting the city are I-5, I-84, I-205 and US-26. The population is around 538,180 in the city, and
1.95 million in the metropolitan area. Additionally, there are many large suburban communities. Portland
is a full service community with various and numerous businesses, banking, restaurants, coffee shops,
denominations of churches, health care and educational facilities. This "City of Roses" is vibrant and
energetic while at the same time laid back and easy-going. Breathtaking natural beauty of the Cascade
Mountains provides the perfect backdrop for a city that has architecturally and spiritually merged the past
with the present with great success. Portland has character and personality epitomized in its unique and
varied neighborhoods. Despite its size, Portland has a small town feel where people know their neighbors
and are active in community issues. Commuting is easy whether it be by its world-class public
transportation system, car or even bike.
Portland is one of the country’s most livable cities. It is known as the “Rose City” and world-renowned
for its annual Rose Festival. Portland is recognized for its effervescent arts community and for the dozens
of urban parks and green spaces. The city is divided between the east and the west by the Willamette
River, and divided from the state of Washington by the Columbia River. Within a few minutes’ drive of
metropolitan downtown Portland are farms and orchards, kayak-friendly waterways, wildlife preserves
and the foothills of Mount Hood. The breath-taking Oregon Coast is less than two hours away. Portland
is the main hub for various outdoor activities including biking, running, boating, camping, fishing, hiking,
hunting, mountaineering, river rafting, water and snow skiing, wind and kite sailing and much more.
Additional Information: For more information about Portland, Oregon, visit the following
websites: http://www.portlandonline.com, www.travelportland.com/visitors/,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portland,_Oregon
Contact Information:
For more information regarding the Region 1 opportunity, please contact Christine Dawe, Director of
Renewable Resource Management at 406-329-3604. If you have an interest in this position, please submit
a completed Outreach Response Form and brief resume by, July 22, 2015 to: Christine Dawe at
cdawe@fs.fed.us.
For more information regarding the Region 6 opportunity, please contact Marie-Louise “ML” Smith,
Director of Natural Resources at 503-808-2955. If you have an interest in this position, please submit a
completed Outreach Response Form and brief resume by, July 22, 2015 to: Marie-Louise Smith at
marielouisesmith@fs.fed.us
We anticipate this job to be posted in USA jobs within the next month and will be advertised for 10 days.
Once the job is posted, individuals who have responded to the Outreach will be notified by email with a
link to the vacancy announcement.
Effective date for successful candidate for the Missoula, Montana position will be on or before November
29, 2015. Effective date for the successful candidate for the Portland, Oregon position will be on or before
October 4, 2015.