What are the responsibilities and job description for the Tribal Forestry Manager position at Coeur d'Alene Tribe?
Summary of Duties and Responsibilities
- Responsible for planning and supervision of programs for planning, management, and protection of approximately 30,000 acres of tribal and allotted timbered lands in compliance with the Tribal Forest Management Plan.
- Supervises a staff of professionals and technicians to carry out the duties involved with preparing the annual timber harvest, forest inventory, sale administration, forest development.
- Incumbent is responsible for administrative, financial and personnel management for the Tribal Forestry staff, as well as on-the-job training and formal training.
- Responsible for surveys, studies and all phases of forest inventories to obtain growth, mortality and harvest to reflect silvicultural development and trends for proper management of forest lands.
- Oversees the preparation of environmental assessments, timber sale preparation, and timber sale contracts while maintaining sound forest management principles, and adhering to applicable Tribal and Federal laws, codes, regulations and policy.
- The incumbent, in cooperation with the Bureau of Indian Affairs, works with Idaho State Department of Public Lands on the protection agreements on or near the Coeur d’Alene Reservation.
- Responsible for identifying and evaluating insect and disease conditions, and advising the Tribal Council on necessary control measures.
- Responsible for the forest development programs on the Coeur d’Alene Reservation. This includes determining needs and conducting thinning, pruning, planting, scarification and other intensive forest management treatments.
- Responsible for boundary and line survey activities and obtaining access or rights-of-way over private property to the scattered Tribal and allotted timber sales.
- Plans and operates the budget from various funding allocations. Prepares budget requests, justification and scope of work for banded funds, add-on forestry funds and from administrative fees accrued.
- Responsible for accurate financial records of all receipts generated from forests products sales. Assures sales of all values are collected and disbursed properly.
- Responsible for the adherence and enforcement of tribal policy and procedures and federal regulations.
- Responsible for annual and quarterly reports covering all activities of the tribal forestry program.
Supervisory Control
Position functions under the general supervision of the Natural Resource Director who issues instructions on difficult and unusual assignments and reviews work for conformance to instructions and procedure as well as occasional spot-check of work at the job. Requires independent judgment and action on the majority of work conducted.
Position functions under the general supervision of the Natural Resource Director who issues instructions on difficult and unusual assignments and reviews work for conformance to instructions and procedure as well as occasional spot-check of work at the job. Requires independent judgment and action on the majority of work conducted.
Minimum Qualifications
- Must support the Coeur d’Alene Tribe’s: vision, mission, and core values per Coeur d’Alene Tribal Resolution 015(2020).
- Comply with all other Health policies established by the Tribe or department, including the annual flu shot.
- A Bachelor of Science degree in Forest Management or a related field.
- At least five years of experience in Forestry. Two years of this experience requires the ability to provide direction in meeting management goals, developing budgets and fiscal responsibility along with the development and supervision of human resources.
- Must have a valid Driver’s License.
- Must not have been convicted of a crime involving dishonesty in the last five years, and be able to pass an FBI background check and qualify to access Bureau of Indian Affairs computers and software.
- Must have strong customer service skills and the ability to defuse tense situations while maintaining a professional demeanor. Must be culturally sensitive to a diverse customer population and able to interact tactfully and positively with Tribal members, all levels of tribal staff and management.
- Must show the highest of professional standards and promotes a positive image of the Tribe and its administration at all times.
- Perform other duties as assigned to promote the efficiency and effectiveness of the department.
Guidelines
Guidelines consist of the Coeur d’Alene Tribal Policies and Procedure, Code of Federal Regulations, Indian Affairs Manual and Handbooks, Federal and State Regulations. Must use professional knowledge in interpretation and applying these guidelines.
Guidelines consist of the Coeur d’Alene Tribal Policies and Procedure, Code of Federal Regulations, Indian Affairs Manual and Handbooks, Federal and State Regulations. Must use professional knowledge in interpretation and applying these guidelines.
Complexity
The incumbent performs or supervises diversified professional duties making frequent interpretation and adaptation of management guidelines and scientific methods and best management practices to carry out duties. Existing and potential resource fields include timber, forest restoration, range management, wildlife management, watershed protection, carbon management, and insect and disease control, as well as soil and water conservation and range.
Scope and Effect
The incumbent’s work and decisions are vital to the Coeur d’Alene Tribe as their forest provides a major source of income, in addition to providing employment to tribal members.
Personal Contacts
Interagency contacts include employees of the Tribe, Bureau of Indian Affairs, other tribes, U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, the Idaho State Department of Public Lands, and U.S. Natural Resource Conservation Service. In addition to meeting with the tribal council and various sub-committees, numerous loggers, and lumber companies, and neighboring landowners are contacted during many forest management and timber sale programs.
Work Environment
Approximately 80-90% of the work is performed in an office setting with the remainder in the field. Work involves processing paperwork, administrative duties, working with computers. Outdoor work involves considerable walking, driving, timber cruising, prescribed burning and fire suppression. Terrain ranges from floodplains, rolling hills to steep hillslopes.
An applicant who meets the minimum qualifications may be asked to participate in an interview. Interviews do not create a right to employment and provide no promise or guarantee of employment with the Tribe.
The Coeur d’Alene Tribe reserves the right to hire according to its Indian Preference Policy. Applicants are subject to a pre-employment drug test and at-random testing following employment. Positions with the Coeur d’Alene Tribe are subject to a 6-month orientation period.
Please Note: The duties listed above are intended only as illustrations of the various types of work that may be performed. The omission of specific statements of duties and responsibilities does not exclude them from the position if the work is similar, related, or a logical assignment to the function.
Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSA) Required by the Position
Please summarize your qualifications in the following KSA’s in an attachment to your application:
- Knowledge of management, budgeting, personnel, public relations and contracting procedures involved in forestry.
- Knowledge of the broad range of biological, geophysical, social and economic factors influencing silviculture and sustainable forest management and the resource activities involved and using judgment and skill in applying decisions on these activities.
- Knowledge of multiple use relationship of the forest and ability to interpret from guidelines and regulations to deal with complex and varying situations.
- Ability to use a wide range of standard professional methods, techniques and precedents to evaluate and judge the proper action and silvicultural treatments or actions to be applied.
- Skilled as a “user” of the following software (or similar alternatives): Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, Access, PowerPoint, Teams), ArcMap or Portal for ArcGIS, and any other software.
- Leadership skills and experience.