Forest 

Service

 Washington 

Office 

1400 Independence Avenue, SW 

Washington, DC 20250

It’s Cool to Be Safe Printed on Recycled Paper 

File 

Code: 

6130/5100 Date: October 15, 2008 

Route 

To: 

 

Subject: Extension to Meet the OPM Qualifications Requirements for the GS-0401 Fire 

Management Specialist Series 

To: Regional Foresters, Station Directors, Area Director, IITF Director, Deputy Chiefs 

and WO Directors 

 

 

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has approved an extension until October 1, 2010, 

for “employees currently in Fire Management positions in the GS-0401 professional series to 

obtain their positive education requirements through Department of Education accredited 

institutions.” This extension will allow these individuals to remain in their positions while they 

work toward meeting the new OPM standards. 

It can take several weeks during the qualifications review process to make a final determination. 

Therefore, we are establishing an internal deadline of May 28, 2010, for affected employees to 

provide supporting documentation necessary to make a qualification determination. This will 

ensure sufficient time to identify any remaining employees whose qualifications have not been 

met and address each situation individually prior to October 1. 

As you may know, OPM issued new guidance on the Acceptability of Higher Education for 

Meeting Minimum Qualification Requirements on February 15, 2005. The new policy 

prohibited the use of NWCG course completion certificates not supported by transcripts from 

accredited institutions as an option for meeting GS-0401 education requirements. The Human 

Capital Management Staff (HCM) reviewed all employees placed in GS-0401positions after 

OPM updated their policy and found approximately 30 employees that had been erroneously 

placed or promoted into GS-0401 fire management series positions. 

Through formal correspondence, the erroneously placed or promoted employees have been 

notified that they do not meet OPM requirements for their current positions. The letter will 

include specific information as to what is lacking and what is needed in order to meet the 

requirements. 

The National Wildfire Coordinating Group (NWCG), who oversees the Interagency Fire 

Program Management (IFPM) implementation effort, has agreed to extend the implementation 

deadline for all incumbents in IFPM positions until 2010, to coincide with the deadline to meet 

OPM qualification requirements. This means that all incumbents in designated IFPM positions 

will have an additional year to meet the qualification standards and must provide supporting 

documents to verify qualifications no later than May 28, 2010. This includes those employees in 

the GS-462 and GS-401 series in IFPM positions who are required to meet OPM and/or NWCG 

qualification requirements. 

In addition to the extension for IFPM implementation, the NWCG has made additional changes. 

These include elimination of the IFPM Resolutions Board, the GS-0401 Education/Training 

Assessment Board, and the removal of the Prevention and Mitigation positions from the “key 14 
Regional Foresters, Station Directors, Area Director, IITF Director, Deputy Chiefs and WO 

Directors 2 

positions”. Any decisions regarding the IFPM qualification standards will be communicated to 

the wildland fire community through NWCG correspondence and posted within the Interagency 

Fire Program Management Qualification Standards and Guide on the IFPM web site. In 

addition, HCM will soon establish a process and call for those in positions designated to 

transition from the GS-0462 to GS-0401 series review documentation and determine if OPM 

qualification requirements have been met. 

Please use this letter as a reminder to your employees that they should continue to seek education 

and coursework that would help them to meet the new OPM requirements. Demonstrate 

commitment to their success with financial support and flexible work schedules to facilitate their 

efforts in meeting the positive education and other requirements for their positions. 

Should you have any questions about the status of the qualifications review of affected 

employees, please feel free to email Chris Vaught of the HCM Staff at cvaught@fs.fed.us. If 

you have questions about the fire aspects of this letter, please email James Barnett of the F&AM 

Staff at jbarnett02@fs.fed.us

/s/ Ron Ketter /s/ Robin L. Thompson 

HANK KASHDAN JAMES E. HUBBARD 

Deputy Chief for Business Operations Deputy Chief, State and Private Forestry 

cc: Carmen Funston 

Joy R Thomas 

Gloria Banks 

James Barnett 

Kasey McEuen 

Stephen Deep 

pdl wo ops asc hcm hrl 

pdl wo ops amc principals