@KoltClassic
@Huskies311 this might apply to your question too.
A typical day has varied with each job & location. Being a Plant tech at Granby was different than Scottsbluff which has been different here at Groveland. So I'll start with the last question. There are other tech roles - wildlife, fisheries and even wildland firefighter jobs are considered a tech position at certain GS levels. As I graduated with a general biology degree I was open to doing whatever, but after several seasons as a plant tech/botanist that has become the career trajectory I'm staying with.
As a soil tech I hiked transect lines across timber harvest units taking soil samples and measurements to tract how much damage the harvesting of trees did to the soil. If you got bad soil you can grow trees. So with that mind set, the USFS is basically the largest free range farming company in the country.
As a plant tech work has been dependent on location. Most of the time im killing of invasive plants (hence Sermo's comment about being a federal weed guy), but as a plant tech I have also study the rate of succession(process of an ecosystem to recover from disasters; ie fire, flood, glaciers) of plant communities post fire, to helping other groups with electroshocking creeks to remove invasive fish from cutthroat trout habitat, collecting fresh water invertebrates for UofWyoming and even checking the condition of artifacts in NPS possession.
My favorite work was managing the grazing allotment at Grand Teton NP. Wyoming is a fence out state, so the Park is responsible for ensuring cattle don't go where they're not wanted. I basically built fence and drove a utv dodging Bison half the summer and then killed weeds the other half. Not much can beat being able to drive a utv within 15' of a 3000 lb mammal.
(07-31-2020, 12:16 PM)KoltClassic Wrote:This sounds like an awesome job!
What does a typical day look like for you? ( Is there a typical day? )
What is the most exciting work that you get to do? The most boring work you have to do?
What is the coolest thing that you've seen during your career?
Where in the US would you most like to go next?
I see you've mentioned being a Soil, Plant, and Range Tech; are there other Tech roles you could move to? Which was your favorite role you've been and why?
@Huskies311 this might apply to your question too.
A typical day has varied with each job & location. Being a Plant tech at Granby was different than Scottsbluff which has been different here at Groveland. So I'll start with the last question. There are other tech roles - wildlife, fisheries and even wildland firefighter jobs are considered a tech position at certain GS levels. As I graduated with a general biology degree I was open to doing whatever, but after several seasons as a plant tech/botanist that has become the career trajectory I'm staying with.
As a soil tech I hiked transect lines across timber harvest units taking soil samples and measurements to tract how much damage the harvesting of trees did to the soil. If you got bad soil you can grow trees. So with that mind set, the USFS is basically the largest free range farming company in the country.
As a plant tech work has been dependent on location. Most of the time im killing of invasive plants (hence Sermo's comment about being a federal weed guy), but as a plant tech I have also study the rate of succession(process of an ecosystem to recover from disasters; ie fire, flood, glaciers) of plant communities post fire, to helping other groups with electroshocking creeks to remove invasive fish from cutthroat trout habitat, collecting fresh water invertebrates for UofWyoming and even checking the condition of artifacts in NPS possession.
My favorite work was managing the grazing allotment at Grand Teton NP. Wyoming is a fence out state, so the Park is responsible for ensuring cattle don't go where they're not wanted. I basically built fence and drove a utv dodging Bison half the summer and then killed weeds the other half. Not much can beat being able to drive a utv within 15' of a 3000 lb mammal.