Forestry Technician Series, 0462

Individual Occupational Requirements

Specialized Experience (for positions at GS-4 and above)

In addition to the experience requirements described in the group coverage standard, seasonal experience may also be creditable. A season of experience is considered to be a period of no less than 3 months of continuous employment on a seasonal basis. Shorter periods may be combined to make a season, provided a total of at least 3 months' experience is shown. For any period where the work exceeded 3 months, the excess work is credited towards an additional season of experience. One season of experience is qualifying for GS-2; 2 seasons of experience qualify for GS-3; and 4 seasons of experience qualify for GS-4. Examples of qualifying specialized experience include:

• Forestry aid or technician work.

• Engineering, range, or soil conservation technician work that involved the application of cultural, resource conservation, or land management practices on nonforest or ranch lands when combined with knowledge of forestry operations and equipment.

• Farming or ranching work that involved application of cultural and soil and water conservation practices, including safety and use of equipment, and that provided a basic understanding of land use.

• Forest or range fire control, prevention, or suppression work.

OR

Education and Training

For GS-3: Successful completion of 1 year of study that included at least 6 semester hours in a combination of courses such as range management or conservation, agriculture, forestry, wildlife management, engineering, biology, mathematics, or other natural or physical sciences.

For GS-4: Successful completion of 2 years of study that included at least 12 semester hours in any combination of courses such as forestry, agriculture, crop or plant science, range management or conservation, wildlife management, watershed management, soil science, natural resources (except marine fisheries and oceanography), outdoor recreation management, civil or forest engineering, or wildland fire science. No more than 3 semester hours in mathematics is creditable.

For GS-5: Successful completion of a full 4-year course of study leading to a bachelor's degree (a) with major study in forestry, range management, agriculture, or a subject-matter field directly related to the position, or (b) that included at least 24 semester hours in any combination of courses such as those shown above for GS-4. No more than 6 semester hours in mathematics is creditable.

For Department of the Interior Positions with Pilot Duties

Applicants must:

• Possess a current FAA Commercial Airman Certificate with ratings appropriate for the duties performed;
• Possess an instrument rating;
• Have completed a minimum of 500 hours of flight time as Pilot-in-Command and 25 hours of flight time as Pilot-in-Command at night; and
• Possess a current Class II Medical Certificate.

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Medical Requirements for SmokeJumper Positions

The duties of these positions require sustained, arduous physical exertion under rigorous and unusual conditions. Persons appointed will be potentially subject to extreme physical danger and to irregular and protracted hours or work. The health of individuals must be such that they have the capacity to meet demands for performance in the position and for human reliability. Before entrance on duty and periodic-ally during employment, individuals must undergo a medical examination. Failure to meet any of the required medical qualifications will usually be considered disqualifying for employment or a basis for termination, except when substantial evidence is presented that the individuals can perform the essential functions of the job efficiently and without hazard to themselves or others, with or without reasonable accommodation.

The following medical conditions must be met:

Eyes: Individuals must be free from acute or chronic eye disease. Corrected distant vision must test at least 20/20 (Snellen) in one eye and at least 20/30 (Snellen) in the other. Individuals must be able to read printed material the size of typewritten characters, correction permitted.

Ears: Individuals must not have acute or chronic disease of the external, middle, or internal ear. Using an audiometer for measurement, there should be no loss of 25 or more decibels in each ear at the speech frequency range. A hearing aid is not permitted.

Nose, Mouth, and Throat: Individuals must be free from acute or chronic sinus disease or other nasopharyngeal conditions that interfere with distinct speech or with free breathing.

Teeth: Individuals must be free from any mouth or dental defect that interferes with proper incision and mastication of food.

Lungs: Individuals must not have any acute or chronic disease of the lungs that impairs pulmonary function.

Heart and Blood Vessels: Individuals must not have organic heart disease, compensated or not; valvular diseases; coronary heart disease; cardiac enlargement; angina pectoris; cardiac arrhythmia or irregularity other than sinus arrhythmia; arteriosclerosis; blood pressure readings that consistently exceed 150 systolic or 90 diastolic. High blood pressure that is regulated without side effects to no more than the above systolic and diastolic readings may be qualifying.

Abdomen: Individuals cannot have acute or chronic disease of the abdomen; significant enlargement of the liver or spleen; or hernia that interferes with lifting, stretching, bending, or working with tools.

Genitourinary/metabolic: Individuals cannot have acute or chronic genitourinary disease; acute or chronic prostatitis; large and/or painful varicocele or hydrocele with functional impairment; or unreconciled abnormal finding on urinalysis, including drug use. Diabetes mellitus may be disqualifying if means or extent of treatment and control are incompatible with working conditions.

Spine, Pelvis, Sacroiliac, and Lumbosacral Joints: Individuals must not have restricted mobility of the spine and pelvic joints that interfere with normal function. Individuals cannot have any significant abnormal curvature of the spine or deformity or malformation of the parts, spondylolisthesis, or a history of herniated nucleus pulposus, with or without surgery, that may be reinjured on impact landing.

Extremities: Individuals cannot have anomalies in the number, form, proportion, and movement of the extremities that interfere with function. This includes non-united fractures; nonreducible dislocations; united fractures and reduced dislocations with incomplete restoration of function; amputation of arm, hand, leg, or foot; loss of any skeletal portion of the thumb of either hand; loss of more than the two distal phalanges of the ring or little fingers of either hand; ankylosed joints; pes cavus, weakfoot, or clubfoot; flatfoot with symptoms unresponsive to orthotics; loss or deformity of great toe or any two toes on the same foot; torn cartilage or loose foreign bodies within the knee joint; instability of the knee joint; or inadequately healed surgical procedure.

Nervous System: Individuals must not have mental, nervous, organic, or functional neuro-psychiatric disorders likely to interfere with performance; medical history or clinical diagnosis or a seizure disorder showing systems that are likely to recur or disturbance of consciousness without satisfactory explanation of the cause; paralysis or paresis; muscular atrophies or dystrophies that would interfere with proper functioning in the position.

Skin: Individuals cannot have debilitating acute or chronic skin disease or extensive scarring that interferes with function.

Other conditions: Conditions or other diseases not included herein will not exclude an individual from consideration providing the condition is satisfactorily corrected.

Height: Height without shoes must not exceed 77 inches or be less than 60 inches.

Weight: Individuals must weigh no less than 120 pounds and no more than 200 pounds without clothes.

Immunization: A tetanus immunization or tetanus booster within the last 10 years is required.

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