Tongass National Forest Thorne Bay Ranger District OUTREACH FOR 120-DAY DETAIL AND PERMANENT FULL TIME POSITION Position Title: Timber Planning Staff GS-401-12 Permanent Position Tour of Duty: Permanent, full-time. Duty Station: Thorne Bay, Alaska This is a zoned position providing direction and leadership to timber planning projects on Thorne Bay and Craig Ranger Districts. Travel between the two districts is necessary each week. Travel time is approximately 1 hour each way. Subordinates are located at both districts. Description of Duties: Provides expert advice in the area of land management planning and project planning for a work group of approximately 10 zoned subordinates. Develops the annual program of work, develops and maintains long range timber planning documents and short range action plans, coordinates resource management planning efforts both interagency and intra-agency. Serves as fleet manager for the planning shop. Serves as contract administrator (COR) for a variety of complex contracts commonly over $1 million in value. Serves as district expert and contact for appeals and litigation. . QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS: Those who are interested must meet the qualification requirements for the GS-401 series that is covered by the Professional and Scientific standards. The OPM Qualification Standards Handbook Manual is available for review at any federal personnel office OR on the Internet at opm.gov/qualifications/index.htm. Qualifications and time-in grade requirements must be met within 60 calendar days of the closing date of the announcement. For information on the position: Contact Person: Rachelle Huddleston-Lorton, District Ranger Phone Number: 907 828 3210 Email address: [email protected] If you are interested in the position, please fill out the attached form and send it to by close of business December 13, 2013. OUTREACH NOTICE FORM Tongass National Forest, Thorne Bay Ranger District Respond by December 13, 2013. Position Title/Series/Grade: Timber Planning Staff GS-401-12 Permanent Position Duty Station: Thorne Bay, Alaska I am interested in this position and will check usajobs.opm.gov for the announcement, or I will call the contact person. PERSONAL INFORMATION: Name: __________________________________________________ Date: ________________ Address: ________________________________________________ Phone: _______________ ________________________________________________ E-Mail: _______________ Current title/series/grade/location: ______________________________________________ Type of appointment you are currently under _______________________________________ (e.g., Career, Career-Conditional, Excepted-ANILCA, Excepted VRA, etc) Are you currently a Federal employee: YES ____ NO ___ Briefly describe why you will be a quality candidate for this position: LIVING AND WORKING ON THE THORNE BAY RANGER DISTRICT The Work The Thorne Bay Ranger District is a challenging and interesting place to work. It is an extremely busy place with many customers coming to the office or contacting us by phone. Since most fieldwork can only be done during the long light-filled days of summer, there is a strenuous pace of work and production during the field season. National resource management politics are felt at the district level and the issues surrounding them are part of the daily workload. The recreation program is growing as more tourists discover Prince of Wales Island. Northern Prince of Wales Island contains world-class caves and karst landscape, which attract attention from the international caving community, archeologists, and paleontologists. The Thorne Bay District is an international leader in karst management through an ecosystem approach The district has a very large fish and wildlife program. Much coordination with timber and road construction occurs through the wildlife and fisheries programs as well as basin surveys and fish pass monitoring. The lands program is unique, due to state selection of land to form new communities. The district is currently moving toward an organization for the future as it transitions to changing needs over time. A smaller workforce and greater use of contractors and partners is one option that is being implemented. There are approximately 40 permanent employees and 20 temporary employees. The Administrative Site The district administrative site, completed in 1985, is located in Thorne Bay, on the eastern side of the island. The compound consists of an office building, a warehouse, a 28-person bunkhouse, and 25 government housing units consisting of one and two bedroom apartments, three bedroom duplexes, and trailers. Approximately 50 percent of the district employees live in government housing. Employees currently pay about $650 per month to rent a 3-bedroom duplex. Housing opportunities in the community are limited. While daycare has been available on the Forest Service compound in the past, it is currently not available. Check with us if you are interested in day care. The Forest Service compound on the unit is like a small community and employees are neighbors as well as coworkers. The district operates one small out camp for employees during the field season. Most employees travel daily to the field in green rigs as well as by boat, helicopter and float plane. Safety comes first and foremost! The Environment Southeastern Alaska is not the Alaska of igloos and snowshoes. Prince of Wales Island is located in southeastern Alaska, 40 air miles west of Ketchikan. Because of the influence of the Japanese Current, the climate is moderate, with summertime temperatures in the 60s and most winter days at 35 to 40 degrees. Snowfall is light, but it is not dry country. The lush ferns and foliage carpeting the forest floor are the result of 100 or more inches of rainfall annually. The most pleasant months generally fall between May and September. The land is heavily forested with Sitka spruce and hemlock. The emerald green slopes of the island drop off abruptly into the waters of the Inside Passage and provide some of the most breathtaking scenery in all of the United States. The length of the day’s change with the seasons from 18 hours of daylight in the summer to 18 hours of darkness in the winter. Sitka black-tailed deer, black bear, and bald eagles make this coastal rain forest their home. The abundance of silver, pink, and sockeye salmon makes the island streams a fishermans paradise. Spring and fall steelhead runs add to the excitement. Crab, clams, halibut, and other seafood are available in the waters surrounding the island. Waters are also populated by whales, seals, sea lions and porpoise. Prince of Wales Island is the third largest island in the United States---2, 231 square miles or 1,427,659 acres. Travel to and from the island is by floatplane or ferry. Thorne Bay is regularly served by several floatplane airlines. Daily ferry service is available from Hollis to Ketchikan and return. The ferry terminal is 63 miles by road from Thorne Bay. There are several hundred miles of road on Prince of Wales Island, and most of the main roads are paved. The outdoor recreational opportunities include fishing, boating, canoeing, wildlife photography, big game and waterfowl hunting, hiking, and camping. Many residents spend the majority of their leisure time on or near the water. Family Need and Spousal Placement Limited employment opportunities exist for spouses both within and outside the Forest Service. In private industry, the few opportunities that exist are primarily in the construction, the logging trades, the local school, the City of Thorne Bay and in various small businesses within the community. The closest Forest Service office is the Craig Ranger District, which is also on Prince of Wales Island and about an hour drive from Thorne Bay. It is our experience that employees are usually happier in this setting if he/she and family members enjoy activities popular in a remote Southeast Alaska location. Rain and darkness in the spring, fall and winter provide excellent opportunities for craft work, carving, reading, painting, and other hobbies. Your life will be in a close-knit little community where your life out of the office feels, and is, slower than life in the lower 48. Alumni have been happiest in Thorne Bay when their family was happy. The Cost of Living The cost of living in Alaska is high, but a cost of living allowance (COLA) of 25 percent of gross salary, tax-free, offsets the difference. There is no state income tax in Alaska, nor property tax in Thorne Bay, and only a five percent sales tax within the city limits. The Community and Its Services Thorne Bay was a logging camp for 20 years, and its roots are still evident. It is rough rather than rustic, very much a settlement of the last frontier. But the town is changing and growing. In 1982 it was incorporated as a second-class city, governed by a mayor and city council. The population count at the last census was 625 residents. A land use plan has been completed and parcels of city-owned property have been offered for sale and development. A new boat dock facility has been completed. The water, electrical and sewer systems have been upgraded. A state-of-the-art bailing landfill is in operation and a new fire hall is complete. A new barge facility makes the loading and unloading of barges with goods for the community a weekly occurrence. Law enforcement is provided by the Alaska State Troopers stationed on the Island and a local Village Public Safety Officer stationed in Thorne Bay. A Forest Service Law Enforcement Officer is also stationed at the District. The Thorne Bay Health Clinic is staffed by a physician’s assistant and registered nurse four days per week, and a physician one day a week. Evacuation by helicopter or floatplane is available for serious injury or illness. A physician and dentist are located in Craig, 43 miles by road from Thorne Bay, in Klawock, 35 miles by road from Thorne Bay, and there is a well-equipped hospital in Ketchikan. A well-trained EMS squad is located in Thorne Bay. Bad storms and fog can ground aircraft at any time during the year. The current Thorne Bay School opened for classes on Oct. 4, 1988. The school currently averages 70 students, kindergarten through grade 12. There is one teacher to every 10 students, including a fulltime special education teacher. A strong core academic program is offered with Spanish as a foreign language. Extracurricular activities include basketball, volleyball, cross-country and wrestling. The school participates in the Rural Student Vocational Program, the Alaska Close-Up Study Program, the Sitka Fine Arts Camp and the Artist and Schools Program. The school includes a weight room. In the evenings the gym is open to the community for sports activities. Both non-denominational and Catholic services are held weekly in Thorne Bay. Thorne Bay is not a full-service community, but does have a contract post office located inside a small quick trip store, a new well-stocked grocery store, two sporting goods businesses, a liquor store, 2 gasoline stations, video rentals, one carry out restaurants, several bed and breakfast establishments and two resorts. Two large grocery stores and other commercial services are located in Craig and Klawock. Limited marine repair and vehicle services are available. Most major purchases must be made by mail, phone, or travel off island but with prior planning and patience, almost anything can be obtained. Information about the community of Thorne Bay and its surrounding environment can be found by visiting thornebay.net, fs.fed.us/r10/tongass/districts/pow/index.shtml or contacting Brenda McDonald via email at [email protected] .
Posted on: Wed, 20 Nov 2013 19:37:37 +0000
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