Forestry Technician (Dispatch)

Created at: October 16, 2025 00:43

Company: Forest Service

Location: Portland, OR, 97201

Job Description:

This position is located within a National Forest. The position is located on a fire crew as a crewmember within the fire management organization. This position is located at one of the Geographic Area Coordination Centers.
In order to qualify, you must meet the eligibility and qualifications requirements as defined below by the closing date of the announcement. For more information on the qualifications for this position, visit the Office of Personnel Management's General Schedule Qualification Standards. Your application and resume must clearly show that you possess the experience requirements. Transcripts must be provided for qualifications based on education. Provide course descriptions as necessary. GW-07: Applicants must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade level (GS-6); OR one full year (18 semester/27 quarter hours) of successfully completed graduate level coursework that is directly related to the work of the position (such as forestry, agriculture, crop or plant science, range management or conservation, wildlife management, watershed management, soil science, natural resources, outdoor recreation management, civil or forest engineering, or wildland fire); OR combinations of graduate level education that is directly related to the position and specialized experience. The education must have been obtained in an accredited college or university. Examples of specialized experience include: Assisting in the mobilization and demobilization of resources such as personnel, equipment and aircraft. Coordinating ground and air transportation and determining the nature of the resources needed including personnel, equipment, and services. Assisting in monitoring the daily fire situation and shared resources. Assisting in developing office policy and technical guidance of the operational systems, including handbooks, guides, and operational plans. Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religious; spiritual; community, student, social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. In accordance with USDA Department Regulation 4430-792-2, this position is a Testing Designated Position (TDP) under the USDA Drug Free Workplace Program and subject to pre-employment drug testing. All applicants selected for this position will be required to submit to a urinalysis to screen for illegal drug use prior to appointment. Incumbents of this position will be required to submit to a urinalysis on an ongoing random basis, after appointment as directed. To receive consideration for this position, you must provide updated required documents and meet all qualification requirements by the closing date of this announcement.
Implements standard procedures and guidelines in the mobilization, reassignment and demobilization of firefighting resources to incidents according to incident priorities within the Geographic Area.
By mobilizing and dispatching a wide variety of resources, resolves non-standard technical problems that require coordination with others to resolve.
Assists in maintaining the Geographic Area mobilization plan and dispatch operating plans and guides.
Implements plans governing the supply and use of resources such as personnel, equipment, supplies, aircraft and fire retardant.
Assists with the overall execution of activities of the Operations Section of the GACC.
This involves the intra- and inter-geographical area movement of aircraft, personnel and equipment for wildland fire and all-hazard emergency response activities.
Cooperates with Federal, State and other land management agencies in this activity.
Maintains records on the availability of unit, geographic area, and national wildland fire resources for planned and unplanned events.
Coordinates information, resource utilization, and accountability with higher level and adjoining units, other adjoining state, local, and federal agencies, and other cooperating entities.
Tracks acquisitions, issuance, and return of equipment and supplies from central facilities.
Monitors and tracks the availability and recommends geographical placement of shared resources (e.g. air tankers, lead planes, aerial delivered firefighters, and aerial delivered firefighter aircraft) within the geographic area.
Monitors daily fire situation in the geographical area, and keeps superiors apprised of current and anticipated resource drawdown in order to support decision making for critical wildfire situations.
Insures that mobilization/demobilization actions (movements of personnel, equipment and aircraft) are planned and conducted in a manner which keeps safety considerations foremost while also meeting time frames of requests for incident support.
Assists in arranging transport flights for crews, personnel and cargo utilizing large or light government-owned or contracted aircraft, as well as the use of infrared aircraft, in accordance with established operating procedures.
Assists superiors in the mobilization of resources, and support of communication capabilities and operational facilities.
Gathers and compiles factual information to assess the current state of available resources and recommends the necessary acquisitions/adjustments to accommodate the immediate requirements for wildland fire management and emergency services.
Monitors adherence to regulations and instructions for the mobilization and readiness of fire equipment and personnel.
Performs specialized administrative work in support of the mobilization of the necessary equipment, vehicles, communication capabilities, and operational facilities.
Reviews contracted, call-when-needed, and/or negotiated services for compliance with specifications and work performed in accordance with scope of agreements and contracts for incident resources.
Applies technical methods and procedures related to aviation operations and to managing agency programs to resolve the full range of irregular or problems situations when performing a wide variety of nonstandard assignments.


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