Forest GIS Coordinator

The Medicine Bow-Routt National Forests and Thunder Basin National Grassland will soon be advertising a Forest GIS Coordinator position.  This position is a permanent full-time GS-11 position with a duty station in Laramie, WY.

PLEASE NOTE:  The purpose of this Outreach Notice is to determine the potential applicant pool for this position and to establish the appropriate recruitment method and area of consideration for the advertisement (e.g., target grade or multi-grade (9/11) or service-wide, region-wide, government-wide or DEMO).  Responses received from this outreach notice will be relied upon to make this determination.  Reply date is May 26, 2015.  For additional information about this position, please contact Melissa Martin at 307-745-2371 or mmmartin@fs.fed.us.

THE POSITION

This position serves as the unit’s Geographic Information System (GIS) Coordinator, providing oversight and expertise to the forests/grassland in matters pertaining to spatially related software, and spatial data creation, storage, maintenance, analysis and display.  Major duties include the following:

• Manage spatial data in a multi-user versioned database setting at a centralized data center. Includes functioning as the unit’s National Resource Management (NRM) Unit Library Schema Manager and the unit’s Enterprise Data Center SDE geodatabase manager.  Provide data in a format for easy consumption on local computers.
• Assist in coordinating workloads with Ranger District GIS specialists.
• Manage the unit’s GIS data holdings, including feature updates, metadata, connecting spatial layers to tabular data in national applications, and design of new non-standardized GIS spatial layers as needed. Incorporate updates from field personnel into master reference layers and mine imagery and other sources for new information.
• Serve as the unit’s primary expert on GIS software, providing support across the unit to users with a wide variety of skill levels, both on local computers or at the centralized Data Center. Maintain support documentation for the unit.
• Provide analysis, modeling, tabular outputs and map products for forest-wide assessments, multi-district projects, forest plan amendments and monitoring, National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) analyses, and a wide variety of special projects across a range of natural resource subjects. Assist single district projects with complex analyses as needed.
• Coordinate spatial data exchange with outside agencies and individuals as needed, including Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests. Serve as technical point of contact and liaison with the Regional Office, State and local governments, learning institutions, the private sector and professional organizations concerned with GIS.
• Provide NRM corporate application role management for the unit for Range and National Resource Information Systems (NRIS) applications. Assist in managing T drive permissions.
• Serve as a knowledge source for the forest on processing data collected via Global Positioning Systems (GPS) into usable GIS data. Knowledge of GPS equipment and data collection software is desirable.

THE FORESTS AND GRASSLAND

The Medicine Bow-Routt National Forests extend from north central Colorado to central Wyoming. The national forests encompass portions of many mountain ranges, including the Gore Range, Flat Tops, Parks Range, Medicine Bow Mountains, Sierra Madre Mountains, and the Laramie Range.

The topography varies greatly within the national forests. Elevation ranges from 5,500 to 12,940 feet. The climate ranges from semi-arid at low elevations to colder and less arid in the high country. Frost may occur at any time, and visitors to the higher elevations should be prepared for harsh weather, including snow and high winds, even during the summer months.

The Thunder Basin National Grassland is located in northeastern Wyoming in the Powder River Basin between the Big Horn Mountains and the Black Hills. Elevation on the national grassland ranges from 3,600 to 5,200 feet and the climate is semi-arid.

THE COMMUNITY

LOCATION/WEATHER (Elevation 7,165 ft.):  The city of Laramie is located in the lower southeastern portion of Wyoming with a population of approximately 31,000.

Summer months offer opportunities to enjoy camping in nearby wilderness settings or well-maintained campgrounds, backpacking, fishing, river rafting, wind surfing, rock climbing and guest ranch vacations. The average summer temperature is 78 degrees. Jubilee Days, Cowbelle cookouts, walking tours, museums, Wyoming Territorial Park, the scenic byway over the Snowy Range and Lake Marie are favorite attractions for local residents and tourists.

Mild temperatures allow outdoors enthusiasts to enjoy their favorite pastime well into the fall. Autumn also brings hunting seasons for antelope, deer, elk, or game birds. Drives through colorful Indian summer surroundings are beautiful and very relaxing.

Winters can be long in Laramie, with an annual snowfall of 48.4 inches. Temperatures may drop to below zero for several days at a time. The average winter high is 32 degrees with an average daily low of 9 degrees. Skiing, snowmobiling, and ice fishing are favorite winter sports.

SCHOOLS:  Educational opportunities are plentiful in Laramie. Private schools are offered, K-6; public, K-12; and junior college courses are offered locally through the Laramie County Community College, Cheyenne, Wyoming. The University of Wyoming is the only four-year institution in the State of Wyoming, serving the widespread population through modern technology and offering over 140 different academic programs.

MAJOR CITIES:  Cheyenne, WY (Capitol City) is 50 miles east of Laramie (45 minutes driving time); Ft. Collins, CO is roughly 70 miles southeast of Laramie (one hour 15 minutes driving time); and Denver, CO is 125 miles south southeast of Laramie (two hours 15 minutes driving time).

AMENITIES: The city of Laramie has approximately 20 Hotels/Motels; numerous restaurants; one 99 bed hospital with a cancer center; doctors, dentists, churches of various denomination; seven museums; 11 municipal parks; two golf courses; sports; newspaper/daily circulation; radio; television/cable; four banks; four savings and loan associations; one public and eight university libraries; two movie theaters; a bowling alley; and retail shopping in historic downtown and surrounding areas. The city is protected by the Fire Department, local Police Department, Sheriff, and the Highway Patrol.

HOUSING:  The average purchase price of a single dwelling home is $180,000 – $250,000. Apartment units are in demand due to Laramie being a college town. The average cost of a one-bedroom apartment is $400.00 – $600.00 per month.

Outreach Interest Form

Forest GIS Coordinator

Medicine Bow-Routt National Forests

and

Thunder Basin National Grassland

 Supervisor’s Office, Laramie WY

Please return form by May 26, 2105 to Melissa Martin

Email:   mmmartin@fs.fed.us

Mail:   Medicine Bow-Routt National Forests (Attn: Melissa Martin)

2468 Jackson Street, Laramie, WY  82070

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SUBMISSION OF THIS FORM IS VOLUNTARY—THANK YOU FOR YOUR INTEREST!