Help Wanted

NRCS is seeking temporary assistance from qualified individuals in quite a few locations throughout Illinois.  These are temporary positions not to exceed 180 days of employment.  Two job classifications are being advertised, Soil Conservation Technician and Soil Conservationist.  One will be located in the Pekin Field Office servicing Pekin and Havana and maybe other offices.  Other positions are being advertised throughout Illinois.

See below for further information. 

Vacancy Announcement

Type of Appointment & Work Schedule:  Temporary Intermittent While Actually Employed (WAE) Employment (can work up to 180 days per service year)

Department:  United States Department of Agriculture

Agency:  Natural Resources Conservation Service

Position Types:  Soil Conservationist and Soil Conservation Technician

Job Title:  SOIL CONSERVATIONIST – (WAE)

GS-5:  $31,315 PA
GS-7:  $38,790 PA
Major Duties
This position will be located in a Field Office Service Center.  Duties will be that of a soil conservationist working within a multi-county area.  You will be responsible for providing technical assistance and consultative services to farmers and land operators in developing and planning comprehensive soil and water conservation and water quality plans.  Work cooperatively with District Conservationists to effectively provide technical assistance in work area to meet shifting workload needs and assist with reporting and programs.

Qualification Requirement
Transcipts are mandatory for this position.
The qualifications for this position are described below and are published in the “Qualification Standards Operating Manual”.  See http://www.opm.gov/qualifications/index/htm.

To be basically qualified for this job, you must have: 
A degree in Soil Conservation or related agricultural or natural resource discipline such as agronomy, soil science, forestry, agricultural education, or agricultural engineering.  The study must have included 30 semester hours in a natural resource or agricultural field, including at least 12 semester hours in a combination of soils and crops or plant science.  Of the 12 semester hours, a minimum of 3 semester hours must have been in soils and 3 semester hours in crops or plant science.

    - OR -

A combination of education and experience with at least 30 semester hours in one or more of the disciplines as shown above, including at least 12 semester hours in a combination of soils and crops or plant science, plus appropriate experience or additional education.  Of the 12 semester hours, a minimum of 3 semester hours must have been in soils and 3 semester hours in crops or plant science.

-AND-

One year of Specialized Experience equivalent to the next lower grade level in the federal service. Specialized experience is defined as experience as a soil conservationist or comparable position with responsibility for assisting landowners with conservation planning; providing technical advice to producers on keeping their plans current; providing resource planning assistance from initial inventory and evaluation through to completion; and other related duties relevant to the occupation.

To qualify for GS-7 you must have 1 year of graduate-level education or superior academic achievement or 1 year specialized experience equivalent to at least GS-5 level.

Job Title:  SOIL CONSERVATION TECHNCIAN – (WAE)
GS-5:  $31,315 PA

Major Duties
This position will be located in a Field Office Service Center.  Duties will be that of a soil conservation technician within a multi-county area.  You will work with landowners to develop and implement conservation plans, perform field surveys, practice layout, designs and checking mechanical
practices. Work cooperatively with the District Conservationists to effectively provide guidance to contractors on layout, and checkout and assist with reporting and programs.

Qualification Requirements
Candidates must meet the basic eligibility requirements for the GS-458 series as set forth in the Qualification Standards for GS Positions.  http://www.opm.gov/qualifications/Standards/IORs/gs0400/0458.htm 
To qualify, candidates must have one year of specialized experience at the next lower grade.  Graduate education or an internship meets the specialized experience required above GS-5 only in those instances where it is directly related to the work of the position. 
Specialized experience is defined as experience in surveying, designing and laying out of conservation practices using the nine step conservation planning process.

How to Apply:
An OF-612, Application for Federal Employment, resume, or any other form of application.  You do not need to send both an OF-612 and a resume.  OF-612 forms may be obtained on the Internet at http://www.opm.gov/forms/html/of.htm.

College transcripts is required for all positions with a minimum education requirement.  Unofficial and/or photocopies are acceptable.

Submit your application package for the Pekin position to:

Tim Malone
District Conservationist
USDA NRCS
1440 Valle Vista Blvd
Pekin IL 61554
309-202-8440 text only
309-346-4462 ext 3 office
309-346-4223 fax

.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

Other Information
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in all its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, and where applicable, sex, marital status, familial status, parental status, religion, sexual orientation, genetic information, political beliefs, reprisal, or because all or a part of an individual’s income is derived from any public assistance program. (not all prohibited basis apply to all programs.) Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for communication of program information (Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.) should contact USDA’s TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TDD).  To file a complaint of discrimination, write to USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, DC 20250-9410 or call (800) 795-3272 (voice) or (202) 720-6382 (TDD).  USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.

For information concerning natural resources conservation in Illinois please visit http://www.il.nrcs.usda.gov.
The Natural Resources Conservation Service provides leadership in a partnership effort to help people conserve, maintain, and improve our natural resources and environment. (http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/).

Natural Resources & Economic Development

In our country, one of the costs of doing business is advertising. Businesses count on attracting consumers for their products and services through marketing. Reluctant to use their funds for advertising, the services of many nonprofit organizations and government agencies go unadvertised.

One such unadvertised organization is the Resource Conservation and Development (RC&D) Program. Working behind-the-scenes in cooperation with volunteers and other public and private agencies, RC&D Councils across the nation offer professional assistance to state and local units of government and nonprofit organizations in rural areas, who need help in conserving natural resources and solving local problems.

The Blackhawk Hills RC&D serves the six counties of Carroll, Jo Daviess, Lee, Ogle, Stephenson, and Whiteside with a population of 235,689. The Blackhawk Hills RC&D Council also serves the region as an Economic Development District (EDD). The EDD was established under criteria of the U.S. Department of Commerce, Economic Development Administration (EDA).

The Blackhawk Hills RC&D has three goals for 2010 as expressed in their annual report presented in March 2010: 1) Improve soil and water quality; 2) Assist communities to improve their planning efforts, economic base, and quality of life; 3) Increase the use of land management techniques.

In working with volunteer groups, Blackhawk Hills RC&D recognizes that conserving natural resources and planning for economic development can work side-by-side. The services and assistance from professionals that are available upon request include: community planning, economic development, natural resources conservation and protection; grant writing and administration; demographic and statistical data; seminars, summits, and workshops; and meeting facilitation and group development. County governments and Soil and Water Conservation Districts (SWCD) of the area, USDA through the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), and the U.S EDA provide basic financial support for the professional staff of three professionals, an office in Rock Falls, and Council expenses.

Blackhawk Hills RC&D is governed by a Council consisting of three appointed persons from each county: one each from the SWCD, County Board, and county-at-large. Stephenson County is represented by Chuck Moen, Sam Newton, and Della Moen.

In 2009 accomplishments included: forestry management workshop; grazing conference; administering an EPA grant for livestock waste management; small farms workshop; leadership in the Driftless Area Initiative; environmental stewardship education opportunities; implementing a community capital improvement program; assistance to the Entrepreneurs and Inventors Club, submission of a $72 million grant application for a Broadband Initiative Program; the regional collection point for data regarding the stimulus plan; host for regular regional community meetings of government officials; and administration of an energy efficiency and conservation block grant.

If you are part of a volunteer group that could use professional planning services, Blackhawk Hills RC& D is counting on you to let them know. Phone: 815-625-3854 ext 2. Find out more at http://www.blackhawkhills.com.

Della Moen, Earth Team Volunteer, NRCS/Stephenson Soil and Water Conservation District, an equal opportunity provider and employer.  Della can be reached at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

Shrub borders give edge to wildlife

Got a well-kept farm, but not as much wildlife as you would like?

Could be you have very little edge habitat, that zone of shrubs, grasses, legumes and weeds, between forests and crop fields.  For wildlife habitat, you want a “soft” or gradual transition from crop field to woodland, rather than an abrupt change from one to the other.  A shrub border of lespedza, indigobush, crabapple or other shrub can help you do that.

Plant five to seven rows of shrubs between the field and the woodland. Spacing depends on the mature size of the shrubs you choose; typically, they are planted four to six feet apart within the row and eight feet apart between rows, so they can be cultivated. You might consider making the distance between the rows 10 feet so it is easier to mow to control weeds in the first years after planting.  Or what ever width your mower is. 

The more variety in the shrubs, the better for wildlife.  Also a variety of shrubs helps in case a disease or insect comes in and attacks one variety of shrub it may not bother other varieties.  Some shrubs offer better nesting cover than others some better escape cover, and some are better loafing cover.  The mixture of shrubs also gives fruits that mature at different seasons, fruits that remain on the plants for different lengths of time. For both reasons, the mixture of shrubs will attract a more diverse group of wildlife.

Shrubs commonly recommended for borders include lespedza, silky dogwood, red osier dogwood, American plum, chokecherry blackhaw viburnum, indigobush and crabapple.  You need to look at your soil and shade situation,  some shrubs do good in shady areas but not full sun.  Some need a drier soil type vs a wetter soil.

Prepare a clean seedbed and be prepared to cultivate the weeds between and beside each row for the first year, to eliminate competition for young shrubs.  You can improve the shrub border’s value to wildlife by adding ten more feet of grasses or legumes on the crop side of the border. A mixture of partridge pea and Korean lespedeza will offer young quail and turkeys a prime bugging area. 

A short grass cover of Kentucky bluegrass, timothy or redtop is a non competitive grass cover that works well with shrub plantings. 

For more information, visit the Natural Resources Conservation Service Wildlife Habitat Management Institute’s website at http://www.whmi.nrcs.usda.gov.