OUTREACH NOTICE

Vegetation Management Officer GS-460-11

R-1, Bitterroot National Forest

The Bitterroot National Forest is planning to fill a permanent Vegetation Management

Officer position GS-460-11. This position will be located at Darby Ranger Station,
Darby, MT. The purpose of this Notice is to inform potential applicants prior to
advertising the position and to determine how many interested and qualified individuals
there are.

**OUTREACH RESPONSE**

Interested applicants, or those desiring further information, should contact Chuck Oliver,
District Ranger. Phone number: (406) 821-3913, E-mail: coliver01@fs.fed.us. Please
indicate if you have career or career-conditional status and the highest series and grade
you have ever held.

ABOUT THE POSITION:

If you like variety and challenges then this is the position for you. This GS-11
Vegetation Management Officer position consists of oversight of all aspects of the
Bitterroot’s vegetation program implementation including reforestation, timber sale prep,
TSI and timber sale implementation. The GS-11 Vegetation Management Officer
position consists of the day- to-day responsibilities of overseeing vegetation related
project implementation on the forest. Major duties of this position include supervision of
timber sale prep and timber sale administration for the Bitterroot Forest. This position
plays a critical role in budget development and analysis as well as providing support for
NEPA and contract development including overall support to timber sale contracting,
contract review for legal sufficiency and appraisal reviews. This is a forest wide position
with the duty station at Darby Ranger Station.

The Bitterroot Forest is a varied forest with over half being in wilderness or roadless.
Maintaining an active timber program is both challenging and exciting. Our program is
characterized by many smaller timber sales and a variety of thinning projects and
assorted specialty products which provides for a varied experience for the individual in
this position. The Forest has an annual harvest of approximately 8MMBF. Timber types
range from open ponderosa pine stands, Douglas-fir, lodgepole pine and whitebark pine
at the higher elevations.

If you would like to be apart of a team of great employees and a wonderful place to work
then this position is for you.
LOCATION: DARBY is located at the Southern end of the Bitterroot Valley,
approximately 60 miles south of Missoula. The community has a strong K-12 school
system; a diverse selection of churches; active civic and community group; community
baseball and several community festivals. Full service medical facilities are located 15
miles to the north in Hamilton. While it has many amenities to offer, the town has
managed to retain the character of its rural, agricultural origin. There are a number of
homes on the market; many include acreage. It is an easy 60 mile commute to Missoula,
home of the Forest Service's Northern Region Office, the University of Montana, and the
amenities and services of a large urban area. Hamilton is an easy 15-mile commute and
features a full service community. Neither government housing nor government
childcare is available, but there is local childcare within the community.
THE FOREST
The Bitterroot National Forest is located in western Montana and the central mountains
of Idaho. The Salmon River and the Salmon National Forest in Region 4 border it on the
south. The eastern side of the Forest runs from the Bitterroot Valley floor to the crest of
the Sapphire Mountains where the Forest borders the Beaverhead/Deerlodge National
Forests along the Continental Divide. The western portion of the Forest is dominated by
the rugged Bitterroot Mountain Range and borders the Nez Perce and Clearwater Forests
in Idaho.
The Forest contains portions of the Anaconda Pintler, Frank Church-River of No Return,
and Selway Bitterroot Wilderness areas. These areas encompass nearly half of the 1.6
million acres of land within the boundaries of the Forest and are easily accessible from
numerous portal entries along the valley. The Forest contains a variety of vegetation
types ranging from dry site ponderosa pine in the lower elevations to Whitebark pine and
alpine larch and fir at the higher elevations along both sides of the Forest.
THE BITTERROOT VALLEY
The Bitterroot Valley is located south of Missoula, Montana and runs approximately 90
miles to the Idaho border. Ravalli County is one of the fastest growing counties in
Montana with a current population of about 35,000 residents. The growth is due in large
part to the mild climate, rural setting, abundant recreational opportunities, picturesque
skylines, and proximity to the University of Montana and other services offered in the
city of Missoula.

Due to the rapid population growth over the last several years the character of the
Bitterroot Valley has begun to change. At the turn of the century large fruit orchards,
small farms and large livestock operations dominated the local economic base. Timber
production from National Forest and private lands and the forest products industry also
played a major role in the economic viability of the valley. Today the economy is
supported by a large service sector, the log home industry, farming and ranching, small
research facilities, and the recreation industry.
The Bitterroot Valley is dotted with many small towns spread about 15 miles apart along
Highway 93, a four lane highway running north and south along the Bitterroot River.
Each town supports an independent school system and provides a variety of services.
The mild climate, with a relatively long growing season (for Montana), provides lots of
opportunity to garden, recreate, and get out-of-doors. The area has four distinct seasons
and a semi arid climate with average precipitation ranging from 16 to 23 inches per year.
Winters are relatively mild with daytime temperatures in January averaging near 30
degrees, and rarely dropping to 15 below zero or colder. Summers are typically warm
and dry with daytime temperatures in late July and August between 75 and 95 degrees.