Summary This position is located within a National Forest. The incumbent is responsible for providing assistance with the complete care of the stock, including training, feeding, shoeing, and first aid needs. Responsibilities Works as a member of a crew responsible for packing horses or mules for trail crews and their equipment such as food, tents, and various tools such as crosscut saws, chainsaws, rock drills, rock bars, explosives, grip hoists, wheelbarrows and sleds. Assists with packing construction materials such as poles, cables, lumber, sand, gravel and bridge materials. May provide pack support for fire crews including food, water, saws, fuel, hoses and portable pumps. May support a variety of resource crews by packing netting, plant presses, screens and fragile survey equipment. Under supervision selects the proper @type of pack equipment for the loads to be packed. With minimal supervision incumbent builds and packs loads and strings of animals together. Builds balanced loads using pack bags, slings, boxes, manty loads with sling ropes, pack racks, etc. Ties multiple hitches (e.g. box, diamond, sling, etc.) as appropriate to the load. Properly fits all @types of riding saddles and pack saddles to mules and horses. Responds to medical conditions and emergency situations safely for animals and humans. Acts as "Wilderness First Responder" for the animals, providing first aid as needed including administering shots and wound care. Assists with the safe use of restraints for doctoring, shoeing, training, or containment purposes. Recognizes the shoeing needs of horses and mules for working in a mountain environment. Responsible for providing assistance with the ranch and pasture management including the design, building, maintenance, and safety inspections of stock facilities. Maintaining fences (including board, pipe, wire, and electric fencing). Flood irrigation of native pastures and forage utilization monitoring of annual grassland pastures. Operates ranch equipment such as a tractor with an auger to make post holes. Pulls a gooseneck stock trailer and bumper-pull stock trailers to safely haul stock on rugged mountain roads. Hauls gear, equipment, supplies, and hay on flatbed trucks and trailers. Hauls tractors and equipment for other functions. Reports mechanical or equipment performance problems to the supervisor. May spend up to 10 days camping in the wilderness utilizing Leave-No-Trace skills. Responsible for all animal care in wilderness settings. Provides assistance in training firefighters, trail crews, wilderness rangers and volunteer groups on how to work safely around pack stock. Requirements Conditions of Employment Qualifications 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 Federal Wage System Qualifications 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. Applicants will be evaluated on their ability to perform the duties of the position rather than length of experience. Eligibility will be determined by the relevance, scope and quality of all experience and training, regardless of where or how acquired. Applicants will be ranked and rated based on their knowledge of the job elements identified in this announcement. Ability To Do The Work Of The Position Without More Than Normal Supervision Technical Practices (theoretical, precise, artistic) Use of Measuring Instruments Ability To Interpret Instructions, Specification, etc. (includes than blueprints) Ability To Use and Maintain Tools and Equipment Knowledge of Materials Dexterity and Safety There is no substitution of education for this position. 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. To receive consideration for this position, you must provide updated required documents and meet all qualification requirements by the closing date of this announcement. Education Additional Information PLEASE NOTE: This vacancy is being used to fill positions for FY2026 Temporary Employment Hiring season. The expected start date for this position will be between June 28, 2026 to October 4, 2026. By selecting the "Location Negotiable" option during the application process, implies your willingness to be considered for any official duty location listed on this announcement and/or those duty locations not listed for this Regional announcement. Pay rates vary depending on location. The salary shown is for the Rest of the U.S. See OPM.gov for additional information on pay rates. This position is temporary, has a Not-to-Exceed date and will be filled for up to 6 months or as a not to exceed (NTE) 1 year, however an extension of the appointment may be possible without further competition. The appointment may also end early due to lack of work or lack of funds. Applicants who apply under this job opportunity announcement agree to have their application, associated documents and applicable personal information shared with other groups within the Region who have vacancies within the same occupational series, grade, full performance level and in any of the geographic location(s) listed on the announcement. Applying to this announcement does not replace the need to apply to other job opportunity announcements for which you wish to receive consideration. The duty station for this position will be at one of the duty locations listed in this announcement. Please visit the Office of Personnel Management's website for additional information on pay rates in your duty location State. The USDA Forest Service has legislative authority to recruit and fill Permanent (Career/Career-Conditional), Temporary, and Term Appointments under the USDA Demonstration Project. Under this authority, any U.S. citizen may apply. Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) or Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP): To exercise selection priority for this vacancy, CTAP/ICTAP candidates must meet the basic eligibility requirements and all selective factors. CTAP/ICTAP eligible must meet the agency's definition for a quality candidate as provided in the How You Will Be Evaluated section of this announcement to be considered. If you are retired from the Federal Government and are selected for this vacancy, your retirement annuity may be offset from your pay. This position is not eligible for telework. Availability of government housing and federal day care facilities will vary by location. Positions filled from this announcement may be a bargaining or a non-bargaining unit position represented by either NFFE, AFGE or NAGE.
