Natural Resource Farmer – Ring-Necked Pheasant – Farmer 2 – Permanent – Two Openings

TWO (2) OPENINGS 
FULL-TIME/PERMANENT
NATURAL RESOURCE FARMER – RING-NECKED PHEASANT  
FARMER 2 

Wildlife Program
Centralia, Washington – Lewis County

This recruitment has been reopened and will be posted until August 1, 2024. If you applied previously your application is still under consideration and you do not need to re-apply. In addition to being reopened, one (1) additional opening has been added to this recruitment.

Join the team at WDFW’s Bob Oke Game Farm and assist with propagating Ring-Necked Pheasants for outdoor hunting recreation in Washington. 

Perform a variety of general farming tasks including livestock care and operating equipment to ensure efficient game farm operations.

Picture yourself,

Providing general care for pheasants including daily health checks in brood houses and flight pens.

With your experience, 

Check and maintain boundary fences, and construct new fences as required.

The optimal applicants, 

Will have experience with tractors, all-terrain vehicles (ATV) and full-size pick-up trucks.

We are seeking a candidate, 

Who models WDFW values: Accountability, Service, Professionalism, Integrity, Respect, and Empathy (ASPIRE).

Duties:

Here is what you will be doing,

General care of pheasants: 

• Follow biosecurity program.
• Perform daily health checks in brood houses and flight pens.
• Check rearing areas for free choice feed and water.
• Collect and record any sick abnormal behavior, and mortality.
• Sanitize water containers (both jug and automated) and maintain automated waterlines (gaskets and broken parts).
• Create favorable growing conditions for pheasants, including scooping out wet litter, sanitizing brooding areas, and pressure wash soiled or contaminated areas.

Equipment and facility maintenance: 

• Operate, clean, grease, oil, service, and make repairs to tools and equipment.
• Pressure wash and sanitize feeders and brood barns.

Pheasant egg collection:

• Collect and care for eggs and sort and cull eggs for quality.

Transporting pheasants

• Collect and transport pheasants to and from flight pens.
• Load and unload pheasants and release pheasants in areas throughout Western and Eastern Washington.

Fence construction, maintenance and removal, build grades and maintain roads and operate and maintain a variety of farm equipment: 

• Install, remove posts, stretch or remove wire, build stretch points and patch broken wires.
• Replace and mend netting and repair and/or replace gates.

Feed pheasants: 

• Evaluate daily feed levels and report to supervisor.
• Feed correct rations to proper age classes.

WORKING CONDITIONS:

• Work Setting, including hazards:
  • Work in all weather conditions and sometimes over difficult terrain and surfaces (up to 90% of the time).
  • Walk, bend, and stoop, often on uneven terrain while at times carrying up to 40 pounds.
  • Load and transport equipment and gear.
• Schedule:
  • Typically, 8 hours per day, 5 days a week. The 2 days off may vary during high workload periods.
  • Will work hours outside of the regular hours of 8:00 A.M. – 5:00 P.M. including weekends.
• Travel Requirements:
  • Will travel between wildlife areas to complete job tasks which may include daily round trips of up to 200 miles.
  • Must travel up to 8 hours once a week during the months of September – November.
• Tools and Equipment:
  • Tractor and implements, all-terrain vehicle (ATV), pressure washer, pickup trucks, welding equipment and hand tools and small power tools.
• Customer Interactions:
  • Interact with the public while at the access sites: may include anglers, dog walkers, hikers, river floaters, and recreational boaters.
  • Work with county and other state agency workers occasionally. May at times work with WDFW wildlife managers and enforcement officers.
  • Deal with private businesses large and small during the purchase of materials for access area improvements.

Qualifications:

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS:

• Two (2) years of experience in farm work or maintaining livestock.

Please Note: College or vocational training in agriculture may be substituted for the work experience.

Competencies:

• Safely operate small and large equipment including trucks, tractors, mini-excavators, and all-terrain vehicles (ATV).
• Repair barbed wire fences and netting including gates, H-braces and rock jacks.
• Use and maintain equipment and tools including hand tools, chainsaws, drills, welders, grinders, saws, pumps, sprayers, and mowers.
• Use and maintain vehicles including pickup trucks, pull and maneuver trailers, and all-terrain vehicles (ATV).

Certifications/Licenses: 

• Valid Driver’s License.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:

In addition to those required qualifications, our ideal applicant will also have some or all of the following: 

• Experience on a tractor, all-terrain vehicle and full-size pick-up trucks.
• Six (6) months experience of full-time animal husbandry.
• Welding and minor repairs on farm machinery, hand tools, and other metal equipment.
• Knowledge of ferrous and non-ferrous metals under welding conditions, welding equipment, fluxes and hardening agents and fundamentals of heat treatment.

Supplemental Information:

Please note: Failure to follow the instructions below may lead to disqualification.

Experience and education selected, listed, and detailed in the Supplemental Questions must be verifiable in the application.

In order to successfully apply for this position, you MUST complete your profile at www.careers.wa.gov and attach the following to your profile before completing the online application:

• A cover letter describing how you meet the qualifications of this position (Generic cover letter will not be accepted).
• A current resume.
• Three professional references.

IMPORTANT NOTE: 

All new employees must complete an Employment Eligibility Verification Form (I-9 Form) on their first day of work. If hired for this or any position at WDFW, you will be required to provide documentation proving you are eligible to work in the United States. For a list of acceptable documents, please use the following link:  https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/form-i-9-acceptable-documents

JOIN THE WDFW TEAM:

Learn about our agency and the perks of working for WDFW!

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife has some of the most talented people in the natural resource field.  We celebrate and value diversity, appreciating that a workforce composed of those from different backgrounds and experiences creates an inclusive environment, strengthens positive relationships with the local community, and brings new perspectives and approaches to fulfilling the agency’s mission. We value demonstrated skill in living WDFW values of Accountability, Service, Professionalism, Integrity, Respect, and Empathy (ASPIRE).

WDFW employees may be eligible for the following: Benefits

Medical/Dental/Vision for employee & dependent(s), Public Employees Retirement System (PERS), Vacation, Sick, and other Leave types. 

Eleven (11) Paid Holidays per year and one (1) personal holiday if the employee is scheduled to be, or has been, continuously employed by the State of Washington for at least four (4) months. 

Public Service Loan Forgiveness, Tuition Waiver, Long Term Disability & Life Insurance, Deferred Compensation Programs, Dependent Care Assistance Program (DCAP), Flexible Spending Arrangement (FSA),  and an Employee Assistance Program.

UNION – WAFWP:

This position is in the bargaining unit represented by the Washington Association of Fish & Wildlife Professionals and is subject to the terms of the Collective Bargaining Agreement between the State of Washington, Department of Fish & Wildlife, and the Washington Association of Fish & Wildlife Professionals.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Employer

VETERAN PREFERENCE NOTICE:

To take advantage of veteran preference, please do the following:

• Email a copy of your DD214 (Member 4 copy), NGB 22 or USDVA signed verification of service letter to Elizabeth.Bullard@dfw.wa.gov.
• Subject line must include recruitment number, position, and Vet (for example: #10155 Biologist 1 – Veteran)
• Include your name as it appears on your application in careers.wa.gov.

MILITARY SPOUSE PREFERENCE NOTICE: 

To take advantage of military spouse preference, please do the following:

• Notify us of your military spouse status by email at Elizabeth.Bullard@dfw.wa.gov.
• Subject line must include recruitment number, position, and MS (for example: #10155 Biologist 1 – MS)
• Include your name as it appears on your application in careers.wa.gov.

Note: Please blackout any PII (personally identifiable information) data such as social security numbers. 

As part of WDFW’s efforts to advance respectful and inclusive work environments, the Agency expects inclusivity as part of our professional interactions and communications.  Therefore, we want to ensure that all individuals feel welcome, are treated fairly and respectfully.  All staff are empowered to fully contribute to serving their work unit, Agency, and the citizens of Washington.

The Department of Fish and Wildlife is an equal opportunity employer.  We strive to create a working environment that includes and respects cultural, racial, ethnic, sexual orientation and gender identity diversity.   Women, racial and ethnic minorities, persons of disability, persons over 40 years of age, disabled and Vietnam era veterans and people of all sexual orientations and gender identities are encouraged to apply.  

Persons needing accommodation in the application process or this announcement in an alternative format please contact Jayme Chase by phone 360-902-2278 or email Jayme.Chase@dfw.wa.gov,  or the Telecommunications Device for the Deaf (TDD) at 800-833-6388.

If you are having technical difficulties creating, accessing, or completing your application, please call NEOGOV toll-free at (855) 524-5627 or support@neogov.com.

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