Natural Resources Forestry Specialist

The Minnesota DNR, Division of Forestry is hiring 8 full-time Forestry Specialists to help manage our beautiful Minnesota forests. Our foresters get a wide range of experiences from wildland fire suppression to timber management and implementing silvicultural practices. 

This posting will be used to fill multiple current vacancies in the following locations: Baudette, Bemidji, Grygla, Lewiston, Nimrod, Preston, and Warroad, MN. During the application process, applicants will be able to choose their preferred location(s).

Depending on internal movement, this posting may be used to fill vacancies in these locations if they become available:  Aitkin, Backus, Bagley, Big Falls, Effie, Finland, Littlefork, McGregor, Northome, Onamia, Orr, Outing, Park Rapids, Sandstone, and Williams.

The Forestry Specialist position exists to implement program support tasks across all Division of Forestry programs so that forest resources are protected, managed, and utilized in accordance with department policy and procedure.

During periods of elevated wildfire danger, the Forestry Specialist will be assigned to work weekends, evening, and holidays. To support ongoing incidents, the Forestry Specialist will also be assigned to travel throughout Minnesota on multiple-day assignments.

Position Responsibilities

The Forestry Specialist commonly performs the following tasks:

• Evaluate the condition of forest stands and apply native plant community guidelines, develop silvicultural prescriptions, and determine harvest systems to meet multiple resource goals.
• Appraise timber for sale, implement forest management guidelines, market permits to timber purchasers, administer state timber permits, and scale cut products.
• Visit forest stands impacted by insects, disease, or fire and create plans to respond to those effects.
• Create maps in GIS programs, analyze and interpret air photos, and use GPS and/or compass to navigate to forest stands to establish management boundaries.
• Engage in wildfire prevention and suppression activities to minimize threats to life, property, and resources
• Collect forest inventory data using common forestry tools and mobile data recorders.
• Analyze forest inventory data, input into GIS databases, and adjust stand boundaries.
• Identify tree, shrub, and plant species common to Minnesota.
• Use the Ecological Classification System to determine native plant communities and update maps.
• Apply statistical methods to develop timber cruises and accurately estimate standing volume.
• Propose tree planting, site preparation, or timber stand improvement projects to meet management plan objectives.
• Locate, identify, and map instances of terrestrial invasive plants and propose treatments to control infestations.
• Operate various vehicles, equipment, and tools (pickup, trailer, ATV, snowmobile, fire engine, long-handled tools, etc.)
• Meet with private landowners and provide advice to manage private woodlands.
• Participate in presentations and outreach to the public and to internal and external agency partners.
• Lead seasonal or intermittent employees, student interns, and emergency hire firefighters to meet assigned objectives.
• Review and approve, or deny, burn permit requests.

This position requires the ability to complete physically demanding tasks with or without accommodation and the ability to work independently in remote locations sufficient to accomplish work without immediate supervision.

Minimum Qualifications

Two (2) years’ experience in forestry that demonstrates scientific knowledge of forest resource management sufficient to create ecologically-sound silviculture prescriptions including timber harvest, regeneration, and stand improvement treatments that meet management plan goal.

OR:

• A bachelor’s degree or higher in forestry or closely related field including coursework in: Silviculture, forest management, forest ecology, or forest engineering; forest/natural resource policy or forest/natural resource economics; forest measurements, forest mensuration, or forest inventory; plant physiology, dendrology, botany, or taxonomy; land surveying, photogrammetry, remote sensing, or geographic information systems.

OR:

• Eighteen (18) months experience in forestry demonstrating the knowledge above AND an associate degree or higher in forestry or closely related field including coursework in the areas of study listed above.

In addition to the above experience and/or education, applicants must also have:

• Ability to earn and maintain National Wildfire Coordinating Group (NWCG) basic wildland firefighter (FFT2) qualification within six months of hire.
• Ability to work weekends, evenings, holidays, and occasionally on multi-day assignments away from home during times of elevated fire danger to protect life, property, and natural resources from wildfires and other natural disasters in Minnesota.
• Ability to communicate orally and in written form sufficient to clearly convey information on forest management practices and policy to the general public, special interest groups, and other department employees.
  Human relation skills sufficient to deal appropriately with supervisors, coworkers, special interest groups, loggers, and the general public in a variety of situations.
• Demonstrated planning skills sufficient to organize short projects, prioritize tasks, make recommendations on the direction of a project, provide leadership on small teams, and exercise limited discretion.
• Knowledge of multi-use forestry concepts sufficient to conduct and evaluate management activities that benefit wildlife species, ecosystem health, recreational opportunities, and wood marketing and utilization.
• Computer skills sufficient to keep records, analyze data, write reports, and communicate and collaborate with partners and colleagues using various applications (e.g., Outlook, Teams, Word, Excel, SharePoint, Adobe, ArcGIS).

Preferred Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or higher, accredited by the Society of American Foresters.
• Three (3) or more years of experience in forestry.
• Knowledge of Division of Forestry policies and procedures sufficient to implement assigned tasks safely and within legal and ethical guidelines.
• NWCG qualified as a Firefighter Type 1 (FFT1), Incident Commander Type 5 (ICT5), Faller Type 3 (FAL3), Tracked Vehicle Operator (TVOP), Engine Operator (ENOP), Fixed-wing Parking Tender (FWPT), or Initial Attack Dispatcher (IADP).