Soil And Hydrology Specialist, NEPA Mid Level Assessment Team – Umpqua National Forest, USFS

The Great Basin Institute (GBI), in partnership with US Forest Service (USFS), is seeking a Soil and Hydrology Specialist to support a post fire assessment for NEPA planning efforts on the Umpqua National Forest in southern Oregon. This dynamic position partners with a FS interdisciplinary resource specialist team to support a mid level assessment across the fire impacted forest. As a field assessment team member, the successful candidate must possess a working knowledge of field survey and assessment protocols that support adherence to environmental law, public land policy, and best management practices in soil and hydrology resources and forestry planning.

The mid-level assessment is an intermediate analysis between forest land management planning and project specific assessment for recent fire activity on the Umpqua National Forest. The process provides the Forest Service (FS) leadership and resource specialist teams with a systematic means by which to compare desired conditions and objectives from the Forest Plan to the existing condition of a project area. This process informs management recommendations for ecosystem functionality and resource needs. The assessment includes a broad range of resources to gain an overall understanding of the intended project area under analysis.

Duties will be both office-based (~20%), with opportunities to support with ongoing NEPA field assessments, as well as soils and hydrology field work (~80%). Office-related work may include data entry and verification, data organization and management, summarizing information, preparation of figures, report writing, mapping of treatment areas, and other tasks related to the completion of NEPA planning for expedient implementation of forest projects.

Field assignments require soil and hydrology assessments; model validation and ground truthing; imagery ground truthing; fire history applications to past, current and future resource trend and condition. Analysis of soil and hydrology status for resource planning for desired condition of TES species will be critical component of this work.

In conjunction with USFS, the specialist will maintain the organization, integrity and accuracy of project data. A successful applicant will also need the skills and confidence to make decisions and exercise independent judgment to safely implement field tasks according to established protocols. This position will be responsible for creation and review of preliminary soil and hydrology NEPA document sections, while developing guidelines, design features/criteria, and provide an appraisal of necessary instructions for species protections measures for the implementation phase of post fire recovery projects.

Essential Job Functions:

• Apply understanding of federal, state, and local regulatory requirements to determine the permitting strategy for projects;
• Perform research, strategic planning and document preparation for the development of NEPA deliverables;
• Analyze potential environmental impacts of proposed project activities and develop baseline data synthesis for subsequent environmental planning documents;
• Review and interpret technical reports on a variety of subjects primarily silviculture, forest resources/management, and fuels/fires (as well as air quality, archaeology, biology, botany, geology, historic resources, hydrology, public lands, recreation, soils, terrestrial wildlife, etc.) and summarize in non-technical language understandable to a layperson;
• Develop recommendations for forest restoration actions for soil and hydrology benefits utilizing guidelines derived from agency directives and current research;
• Promote effective internal and external communication between the Institute and the USDA Forest Service

Contract Timeline: Agreement is pending final signature from the USFS.
Position will start mid/end March 2024 and may extend to March 2025, depending on candidate pool and USFS personnel. Position may be extended to support the formal NEPA process subsequent to the assessment.

Location: Office space will be provided in Cottage Grove, Oregon.

Field work will span across the Umpqua National Forest, which protects 983,239 acres of forest across Douglas, Lane, and Jackson Counties. The Forest is headquartered in Roseburg and has four ranger districts: Cottage Grove, Diamond Lake, North Umpqua, and Tiller. The Forest is also the home of the Dorena Genetic Research Center and Wolf Creek Job Corps Center.

Compensation and Benefits:
$28.50/hour for a 2000 hour/50 week position.
In addition to a competitive base salary, this full-time, on site position includes
– Comprehensive medical , dental, and vision insurance. 100% covered by GBI for employees: zero premium.
– Generous PTO accrual.
– 10 paid holidays annually.

Total compensation package is equivalent to $30.75/hour. This exciting role contributes to GBI’s significant positive impacts in environmental research, education, and conservation.
Job Qualifications:

Required Qualifications:

• Master’s Degree or a Bachelor’s Degree and a combination of academic and/or field experiences related to Soils, Hydrology or related field; knowledge of the principles of federal resource management policy: field data collection protocols; Proficiency in the maintenance of research databases; Proven ability to evaluate data for accuracy, relevancy, and importance, and relate the significance of the results to the higher objectives to which the activity is related.
• Strong written and oral communication skills, including the editing, oversight, and preparation of technical reports;
• Ability to perform analysis of spatial data (e.g., home range calculation);
• Excellent critical thinking skills;
• Ability to work collaboratively with a team in a fast-paced and demanding
  environment;
• Ability to work independently with a strong work ethic;
• Excellent oral, writing, communication, presentation, strategic thinking, and team skills;
• Possess a valid, state-issued driver’s license and clean driving record with experience operating 4WD trucks on and off paved roads, including narrow, mountain forest roads – use of ATVs could be expected in some winter conditions (training provided).

Preferred Qualifications:

• 5+ years of experience in soils, hydrology and/or forest resources/management, successfully managing and preparing environmental document sections and associated technical studies;
• Experience with, and an understanding of, the environmental regulatory framework of the Northwest Forest Plan, applicable state and federal laws and USFS monitoring protocols for the Region 6;
• A working understanding of soil and hydrology plans for forest health projects and post-fire recovery efforts; experience with Geographic Information Systems (GIS).
• Experience with conducting resource surveys, data capture, database management and the interpretation of these data for NEPA planning.

Physical Demands:

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

The nature of the position is varied. While performing the duties of this job in an office setting, the employee is regularly required to sit, use hands, stand, walk, bend, and have specific vision abilities to include close and distance vision, and ability to adjust focus working with computer business equipment and other job/industry specific equipment. Field work requires exposure to varied terrain and extreme environmental conditions such as heat, cold, and temperature changes.

NOTE: This job description is not intended to be all-inclusive. Employee may perform other related duties as negotiated to meet the ongoing needs of the organization.

All offers of employment are conditional upon completion of an acceptable check of the National Sex Offender Public Registry and federal criminal background check.

Disclaimer: Although the Company has attempted to accurately and thoroughly describe this position, the Company reserves the right to change the same, including to change, add to or subtract from the duties outlined, within the sole discretion of the Company, at any time, with or without advance notice.

As part of Great Basin Institute’s Covid-19 Vaccination Policy, all employees are encouraged to receive a full course of COVID-19 vaccine. To review a copy of GBI’s COVID-19 Vaccination Policy, please visit our Field Updates page for more details. If you have any questions or concerns regarding this policy, please do not hesitate to contact one of our staff members.