Forestry Technician (Tahoe National Forest)

The Great Basin Institute, in cooperation with the USFS, is recruiting Forestry Technicians to perform timber sale-preparation, vegetation management and restoration projects in the Sierra Nevada region. These projects all serve the Basin & Range Forestry program’s greater mission of helping the USFS in their critical goal of improving forest resilience in the face of worsening climate conditions and increased wildfire threats. The work that you will do directly improves the quality of these forests helping ensure they continue to thrive for generations to come. Technicians will serve vegetation management and fuels reduction efforts, supporting initiatives for healthy, productive, and resilient forest landscapes and resources. Project work may include post fire recovery efforts.

A Temporary Special Assignment (TSA) employee is one who is hired for a specific temporary assignment external from the institute’s administrative operations with one of GBI’s partners for 52 weeks or greater or less than 52 weeks and may work full-time (30 or more hours per week) or part-time (less than 30 hours per week).

Essential Job Functions may include the following:
Forestry Technicians will perform a wide variety of activities to support all stages of project work. Forestry duties may include, but are not limited to: 

• Timber sale unit boundary delineation and layout (GPSing, flagging, painting);
• Tree species identification; Green and salvage timber marking and cruising;
• General silviculture data collection;
• Maintain field supplies;
• Following directions of crew lead;
• Navigate to plots using GPS and/or topo map.

All procedures will be performed in compliance with silvicultural prescriptions based on forest and treatment type and land management goals. Data will be gathered using standard instruments, direct measurements, general observations and on-site inspections. Project-specific training will be provided on tree-species identification, GPS data collection, tree marking, hydrology, entomology/pathology, heritage, fire/fuels and other elements. Prior experience in basic GIS skills, GPS data collection, tree-species identification, timber marking and cruising, identifying hydrologic concerns, recognizing forest entomology/pathology issues, identifying heritage sites and experience with fire/fuels assessments or related field tasks is preferred.

Requirements/Qualifications (at least one of the following):

• Bachelor’s degree from an accredited university in forestry (preferred), natural resource management, or a related field, with coursework and experience that demonstrate an understanding of the principles of forestry.
• Six months of professional fieldwork experience.

Other Requirements:

• Capacity to collect and maintain organized field data, ensuring accessibility to other resource staff.
• Strong communication skills, both written and oral, for engaging with diverse audiences.
• Proficiency in using handheld GPS units for navigation and data collection.
• Experience navigating with a compass and topographic maps.
• Valid, clean, state-issued driver’s license.
• Ability to live and work in rural and remote settings, both in field and office environments.
• Physical fitness to endure outdoor work, including carrying up to 50 pounds of equipment, and adapting to varied seasonal conditions in forested or high desert environments.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Familiarity with timber cruising and marking techniques.
• Understanding of resource management issues in western states and the Sierra Nevada ecoregion’s ecology.
• Knowledge of mixed conifer forests typical to eastern California, including common woody and herbaceous plants, wildlife, geology, and topography.
• Experience operating and maintaining 4WD vehicles safely on varied terrain.
• Ability to interpret and implement established data collection, inventory, assessment, and monitoring protocols.
• Experience using ArcGIS to create maps (a plus).