See Below
Position: The Regional Office will soon be advertising a GS-040-05 Biological Science Technician, Plants position in the Ecosystem Analysis and Planning/Watershed and Air Staff detached in Silver City, New Mexico, Gila National Forest Supervisors Office. The primary assignment involves field work related to the New Mexico Terrestrial Ecological Unit Inventory program. Work duties involve data entry into the Forest Service NRM corporate database. Field work during the summer months involve assisting full time professional staff in the collection of soil, vegetation, landform and geology data used to characterize ecological types.
Region: The Southwestern Region consists of approximately 2,000 permanent and 1,500 temporary employees in 11 National Forests and 4 National Grasslands in New Mexico, Arizona, and the panhandle area of Texas and Oklahoma. The Southwestern US is one of the most diverse and rapidly growing regions of the country. In 1997, New Mexico became the first state in the continental US in which “minority groups” collectively represent over 50 percent of the state’s population. This “minority-majority” demographic situation is an indication of the complexity, diversity and opportunities that the Southwestern Region faces as it carries out its mission of “caring for the land and serving the people.” The Region’s programs represent the full complexity of resource management in the Forest Service with an emphasis on customer service and contributing to the Southwestern quality of life. Recreation, Urban-Wildland Interface and forest restoration are some of the focus areas of the Region.
Location: The position will be located in the Gila National Forest Supervisors Office in Silver City, New Mexico.
The Gila National Forest is headquartered in Silver City, New Mexico. The Forest is 3.3 million acres of forested hills and mountains. The Forest is predominately pinyon/juniper at the lower elevations with pine and fir types at the higher elevations. Some unique features in the area include Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument, the Catwalk and Aldo Leopold, Gila and Blue Range Wildernesses. Elevations range from 4,500 to 11,000 feet. More information may be obtained by visiting the website at (www.fs.fed.us/r3/gila/).
COMMUNITY
Silver City (www.silvercity.org) (www.townofsilvercity.org) and the surrounding communities of Bayard, Santa Clara, Tyrone and Hurley are located in southwest New Mexico. Main access to Silver City is via Highway 180 north from Interstate 10 at Deming, NM. The elevation is 5,900 feet above sea level. Silver City boasts four gentle seasons. The average annual temperature is 54 degrees. May is the driest month of the year while July is the wettest. The annual average precipitation is 15.69 inches. The population of Silver City is approximately 13,000 and Grant County is about 29,000. Silver City was recently selected as one of the healthiest places to live and retire. It placed in the top 1% of over 3,000 communities our size or larger. Downtown Silver City is undergoing a revitalization effort and features many locally-owned shops and galleries.
The community has two libraries, churches of all denominations, a Regional hospital (http://www.grmc.org/), several medical clinics, ambulance service, an emergency care clinic, and physicians of all specialty areas, dentists and nursing homes. There area has two newspaper companies, several motels, radio stations, city and county offices and local retail businesses. Recreation facilities include baseball and soccer fields, all weather track, tennis courts, health and fitness clubs, an indoor and outdoor swimming pool, an 18-hole golf course, a bowling center and parks. Organized youth and adult sports activities are numerous. In the immediate vicinity are trout fishing, hunting, hiking, horseback riding, bicycling and camping. The main industries are tourism, mining, logging and ranching. The nearest commercial airports are in El Paso, TX (3 hours), Tucson, AZ (3 hours) and Albuquerque, NM (4 hours). Grant County airport also provides some services with Great Lakes Airlines.
Grant County has two public school districts, Silver Consolidated and Cobre Consolidated School Districts. There are several private schools and alternative schools. Western New Mexico University (www.wnmu.edu) offers four-year programs and two year technical programs in areas such as education, nursing, basic arts and sciences and several graduate programs.
Rental homes and apartments range from $550-$1000 per month for an average three bedroom home/apartment. The price of a single family home averages $187,000 with properties ranging from below average to well above average in price. Property taxes in Grant County are based on $18.00 per $1,000 net taxable income after exemptions.
Other area recreation facilities and attractions are: Western New Mexico University Museum (http://www.wnmu.edu/univ/museum.htm), City of Rocks State Park, Historic Pinos Altos and the 3.3 million acre Gila National Forest.
Special annual events include the Wild Wild West Pro Rodeo, Tour of the Gila Bicycle Race (www.tourofthegila.com) Cowboy Poetry Gathering, San Vicente Artists’ Fairs and Tours, Gila Bird and Nature Festival, Billy Casper Golf Classic, Annual Blues Festival, Christmas Lighted Parade, 4th of July Celebration, Weekend at the Galleries, Farmer’s Market, Grant County Fair, Gem and Mineral Show, and several theatrical and musical presentations at the University Fine Arts Theatre.Major employers are Phelps Dodge/Chino Mines, Gila Regional Medical Center, Silver City Schools, Western New Mexico University, Walmart, Town of Silver City, Grant County, Teleperformance Communications and the Gila National Forest.
Contact the Chamber of Commerce at 201 N. Hudson, Silver City, NM 88061, 1-800-548-9378, or (http://www.silvercity.org/) for more detailed information or a relocation package. A comprehensive listing of local websites and information can be found at (www.gilanet.com/silverweb/).
IF YOU WOULD LIKE MORE DETAILED INFORMATION ABOUT THE POSITION AND IF YOU ARE THINKING OF APPLYING FOR THE POSITION, PLEASE CONTACT:
Steven Strenger: Wayne Robbie:
(505)842-3145; or (505)842-3253