Forestry
Technician Position
Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie
Wilmington,
Illinois 60481
The Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie will soon be advertising
to fill five positions working in trails, trailheads, dispersed recreation and
protection of natural resources. The official duty station is Wilmington,
Illinois located about 45 miles southwest of Chicago. Midewin was established in 1996 as the first
national tallgrass prairie in the country and in the National Forest
System. It is also the largest open
space in the six-county Chicago metropolitan area.
About the Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie
The Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie was established in
1996 as part of the peace time conversion of the former Joliet Army Ammunition
Plant and is administered by the USDA Forest Service. Midewin is implementing its first Land and
Resource Management Plan to accomplish the four purposes outlined in its
establishing legislation --to manage the land and water resources to conserve
and enhance native populations and habitats of fish, wildlife, and plants; to
provide opportunities for scientific, environmental, and land use education and
research; to allow continued agricultural use under certain conditions; and to
provide a variety of recreation opportunities.
Midewin operates in an unusually integrated manner with a
wide variety of partners. It is the
largest contiguous open space, at approximately 19,000 acres in northeastern
Illinois. Check out our website at www.fs.fed.us/mntp/ to gain an overview of what's current and
planned at Midewin.
Major
Duties
The
incumbent for this position performs a variety of tasks to support public
access, maintaining recreation infrastructure, and developing infrastructure,
including trails, trailheads, and interpretive facilities. The following is only a summary of what the
position duties:
•
Oversees and participates in the construction
and maintenance of trails and trailheads.
•
Performs safety hazard analyses of trails and
related facilities and takes or recommends corrective action. Inspects areas of concentrated public use,
trails, and special use permits for compliance with the permit and management
plans, public health, and safety
•
Provides detailed information about
non-motorized opportunities to visitors and explains Forest Service rules and
regulations. Provides information on
resource management practices, regulations, and current conditions. Collects, compiles, and summarizes
information for trail data management systems.
•
Uses various types of equipment including
mowers, skid steers, UTV’s and tractors.
•
Work schedule includes weekends, with varying
start and end times during high use seasons.
•
Working environment is outside in all type of
weather and seasons. Work terrain may be steep and uneven with thick vegetation. Assists in the maintenance of trail
facilities, such as toilets, road closure gates, barriers and other
miscellaneous structures.
•
Coordinates and serves as field work leader for
crews and volunteers.
Pay Band
$13.35 - $16.77/ Hour
The Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie Area
Although Midewin is located 45 miles southwest of Chicago,
the third largest metropolitan area in the country, a rural atmosphere
predominates throughout the small to mid-sized farming communities that
surround Midewin. There are numerous
schools, hospitals, doctors, churches, and communities to choose from and
cultural opportunities are nearly limitless.
Wilmington, Illinois is a full service community with a
population of 5,000 and is located adjacent to the Kankakee River. Fishing is quite popular along the Kankakee
and throughout various other rivers and small lakes that surround the
area. The climate in this area is defined
by four distinct seasons. Summer
temperatures can reach over the 90’s, accompanied with, high humidity and heat
index in the 100s or more. Spring and fall
have average temperatures in the 60’s and 70’s.
Winter temperatures will frequently dip below freezing and it is not
unusual to see several inches of snow covering the ground November through March.
The Midewin headquarters is located along State Highway 53, two
miles north of the town of Wilmington, Illinois. Midewin team members live in many area
communities, ranging from the more urban Joliet, population 83,000, to smaller
communities tucked around the surrounding farm fields, like Essex, 500, or
nearby Elwood, 1,000 For more
information on Wilmington, there is a community website available at http://www.wilmington-il.com/ Many
options for residing in larger communities are available within an easy half
hour commute. There is no public transit
available to the Midewin office. The
closest Metra station providing access to Chicago is in Joliet.
Medical facilities are plentiful, including easy access to
nationally-recognized institutions in Chicago.
Cultural events range from performances at the historic Rialto Square
Theater in Joliet, to playhouses at local universities, to a variety of
festivals celebrating local heritage, to the wide theater, restaurant, and
museum options of Chicago.
If you are interested in this position please respond
by February 13, 2015.
For additional information about this position, please
contact: Rick Short, Acting Public Services Team Leader by
email at rshort@fs.fed.us or by phone at
(815) 423-6370.