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LANDS PROGRAM SPEC - FOREST HEALTH

Posting Begin Date: 2025/06/23

Posting End Date: 2025/07/28

Category: Natural Resources

Work Type: Full Time

Minimum Salary: 33.71

Maximum Salary: 33.71

Pay Rate Type: Hourly

Description

Idaho Department of Lands

The Idaho Department of Lands (IDL) is seeking a full time Lands Program Specialist – Forest Health. This position will be located at the Coeur D’Alene Staff Office in Coeur D’Alene, ID.

Applications will be accepted through 4:59 PM MST on the posting end date.

Description

The Forest Health Specialist provides forest health technical assistance to landowners and managers statewide. This position conducts forest insect and disease training sessions and field days and responds to phone calls, email correspondence and other requests for assistance from state foresters, industrial and private forest landowners. The Forest Health Specialist may supervise seasonal employees. Some overnight travel is expected and occasional work on weekends is possible during the field season. Specialist may be trained as an aerial detection surveyor to collect aerial survey and conduct ground checks in cooperation with U.S. Forest Service.

Responsibilities:

+ · Responds to requests for technical assistance from state, industrial, and private landowners, and land managers.

+ · Assists with ground-checking, editing, and finalizing aerial detection survey data as needed; may be trained as an aerial detection surveyor to collect data in cooperation with the U.S. Forest Service.

+ · Reviews timber sales and provides detailed forest insect and disease management recommendations to state foresters.

+ · Assists with the Douglas-fir tussock moth, spongy moth and other defoliator surveys.

+ · Coordinates additional forest health surveys and cooperative monitoring efforts (invasive bark beetle, periodic defoliator surveys).

+ · Maintains and updates forest health survey geodatabases.

+ · Helps coordinate and participates in insect and disease training sessions and outreach events with cooperators (US Forest Service, University of Idaho Cooperative Extension, adjacent state agencies).

+ · Supervises seasonal technicians.

+ · Develops educational materials, responds to requests for information from news media, and helps develop press releases and other public-facing reports and fact sheets.

Considerable knowledge of:

+ · Forest pathology or forest entomology

Good knowledge of:

+ · Insect or disease survey principles as they relate to forest health

+ · Forest management principles

+ · Geographic information systems, ArcGIS Online, and digital applications

Experience:

+ · Monitoring insect and disease infestations, providing damage assessments in forests, and conducting pesticide spray projects to treat insect & disease infestations

+ · Analyzing issues and making forest health recommendations related to preparing forest management plans and projects, and reforestation activities, and preparing technical reports

+ · Developing and maintaining databases, utilizing standard analysis techniques, utilizing a Geographic Information System (GIS) when appropriate, designing and conducting monitoring projects to evaluate and predict impacts of management activities and establishing technical land management guides for state or private natural resource operations

+ · Working with inter-agency or local working committees

+ · Working with various groups, individuals and interests to develop understanding, acceptance and support for forest health programs and practices, and providing training and assistance to customers

Minimum Qualifications

Good knowledge of: Best management practices for land management activities.

Experience:

+ Researching, analyzing and monitoring land management issues in relation to existing federal, state and local laws, rules and practices and making recommendations.

+ Serving as a technical resource within an organization on complex programmatic or technical issues, including preparing technical reports; providing guidance to co-workers, the public and other interested parties; and providing recommendations to upper management.

Desired Qualifications

Possess the following:

+ · Bachelor’s degree or higher in Forest Pathology or Forest Entomology or related field

+ · Experience supervising the work of others

+ · Experience conducting aerial detection surveys

+ · Experience and background with Geographic Information System (GIS) principles and data models, ESRI ArcGIS Online applications, geodatabases, and Access databases

Benefits:

The State of Idaho offers a robust total compensation package, including medical, vision, and dental insurance; PERSI retirement benefits; paid sick, vacation, and parental leave; and 11 paid holidays per year. For additional information related to benefits and/or State programs, please visit https://dhr.idaho.gov/StateEmployees/Benefits.html.*

EEO/ADA/Veteran:

The State of Idaho is committed to providing equal employment opportunities and prohibit discrimination against qualified individuals based on their status as protected veterans or individuals with disabilities and prohibit discrimination against all individuals based on their race, color, religion, political affiliation or belief, sex, national origin, genetics, or any other status protected under applicable federal, state, or local laws.

The State of Idaho is committed to access and reasonable accommodations for individuals with disabilities, auxiliary aids and services are available upon request. If you require an accommodation at any step in our recruitment process, you are encouraged to contact (208) 334-2263 (TTY/TTD: 711), or email [email protected].

Preference may be given to veterans who qualify under state and federal laws and regulations.

About the Idaho Department of Lands:

Become part of an organization where you will work with dedicated people who are committed and skilled in managing and protecting Idaho's natural resources.

The Idaho Department of Lands (IDL) believes in its employees and values stewardship, service, accountability and cohesiveness. Our goals emphasize our people and processes, financial stewardship, and customer focus. We strive for a culture in which leadership equips, entrusts and expects employees to make decisions in fulfillment of our mission. View our Strategic Plan here.

Under the direction of the Idaho State Board of Land Commissioners (https://www.idl.idaho.gov/about-us/land-board/) , IDL manages more than 2.5 million acres of state endowment trust land under a constitutional mandate to produce maximum long-term financial returns for public schools and several other State of Idaho institutions. Leases and other contracts are used to authorize revenue generating activities such as timber harvest, grazing, farming, mining, commercial use, residential use, and conservation in a prudent and sustainable manner.

Managing endowment trust lands (https://www.idl.idaho.gov/about-us/understanding-endowment-land/) is only part of our story. We also protect public resources such as water quality, fish, wildlife habitat, and recreation on navigable waterways (http://www.idl.idaho.gov/lakes-rivers/) , and ensure the protection of water quality and other resources by overseeing forestry and mining practices across all ownerships in the state. We also work to reclaim abandoned mines in Idaho. One of our most important resource protection responsibilities is fire prevention and suppression. We also aid landowners in managing their forest lands, work with communities to plant trees in urban settings, help keep working forests working through the Forest Legacy Program, and work with many partners to promote healthy forests on a landscape level. IDL also is the administrative arm of the Idaho Oil and Gas Conservation Commission.