Conducting field inspections before and after prescribed or wildland fires to determine if
resource objectives were achieved and/or evaluate the effectiveness of actions taken; and
Developing analyses on the ecological role of fire and its use and/or exclusion, and smoke
management.

In addition to fire program management, appropriate experience must have included either
prescribed fire/fuels management - OR - fire management operations as described below:

Prescribed fire/fuels management - experience in a broad range of activities such as:

Professional forest or range inventory methods and procedures (e.g. Brown's planar
intercept for dead and down fuels; live fuel loading assessments);

Analysis of fuel loadings and determination of appropriate fuel treatment methods and
programming;

Land use planning and environmental coordination;

Evaluation of prescribed burn plans or fire management plans to ensure fire containment is

possible and identification of appropriate suppression contingencies if containment is not
obtained.

Fire management operations - analyzing and applying fire management strategies, plus experience
in at least five of the following activities:

eoeeeeee

Mobilization and dispatch coordination
Fire prevention and education

Training

Logistics

Equipment development and deployment
Fire communication systems
Suppression and preparedness

Aviation

Medical and physical requirements must be met for positions that have duties that are of an arduous
or hazardous nature.


National Wildlife Coordinating Group (NWCG) Courses’ - Lower Division

P-151 Wildfire Origin and Cause Determination 1 semester hour
RX-300 Prescribed Fire for Burn Bosses 1 semester hour
RX-340 Introduction to Fire Effects 1 semester hour
S-190/290 Introduction to Fire Behavior combined with

Intermediate Wildland Fire Behavior 1 semester hour
S-390 Intro. to Wildland Fire Behavior Calculations 1 semester hour

1 — Per Colorado State University
2 — Per Colorado State University/Utah State/Northern Arizona University
3 — Per University of Idaho/ Colorado State University/University of Montana


agencies and a panel of college professors who specialize in wildland fire education.
Prospective coursework will be reviewed to determine that it meets the criteria
established by the Office of Personnel Management for the GS-401 series. Updated lists
will be approved and issued by the Chair of the Federal Fire and Aviation Leadership
Council through the respective agencies’ human resources and line management
channels.

Additional Education

In addition to courses in the major and related fields, a typical college degree would have
included courses that involved analysis, written and verbal communication, critical
thinking, planning research, etc. Therefore, creditable experience should have
demonstrated similar skills and abilities.

The quality of the combination of education and experience must be sufficient to
demonstrate that the applicant possesses the knowledge, skills, and abilities required to
perform work in the occupation and is comparable to that normally acquired through the
successful completion of a full 4-year course of study in the fields listed in section A or B
of the Basic Requirements. Experience credited under section “B” of the new GS-401
qualifications standard cannot be credited as specialized experience. Time credited for
specialized experience is in addition to the time credited to meet basic qualifications.

Appropriate Experience to Meet Basic Requirements

An example of appropriate experience which would be comparable to the required
college coursework may be that of a technician, at the GS-7 grade level or above, who is
working under the supervision of a professional employee and is performing duties
equivalent to an entry-level professional employee, in the field of biological sciences,
agriculture, natural resources management, or fire management.

Examples (Section “B” of Basic Requirements)

In accordance with direction in the Qualification Standards for General Schedule
Positions Operating Manual, 30 semester hours (or 45 quarter hours) is comparable to
one year of college and can be substituted for one year of experience.

Example |:

An applicant has 60 semester hours of creditable education, which includes the
required 24 semester hours equivalent to a major field of study, (of which at least 18
are upper division). The applicant still must have 2 years of appropriate experience to
meet the basic requirements. This combination equals 100%.


Attachment 2

Application of Education and Specialized Experience

Creditable Education

Education, to be creditable toward the 24-semester hour requirement, must meet the
requirements of the Qualification Standards for General Schedule Positions Operating
Manual, published by the Office of Personnel Management. The nature and quality of
the education must have been such that it would serve as a prerequisite for more
advanced study (graduate level or professional education).

The education must meet one of the following:

1. Conventional - Obtained from a college or university, applicable school within
the college or university, or applicable curriculum at the college or university that has
been properly accredited.

2. Other education - Education obtained from other than an accredited institute of
higher learning, such as National Wildfire Coordinating Group (NWGC) courses
listed in Attachment 3.

3. Credits from the USDA Graduate School, or equivalent. Only courses in
biological sciences, natural resources, wildland fire management, forestry, or
agricultural coursework are creditable towards the 24 semester hours equivalent to a
major field of study.

Education Equivalent to a Major Field of Study (24 semester hours)

The 24 semester hours must be obtained in biological sciences, natural resources,
wildland fire management, forestry, or agriculture course work. Educational course work
must include at least 18 semester hours of upper division (junior/senior) course work.
Course titles and numbers may help determine whether a given course is upper or lower
division. For example, courses numbered 100 or 200, beginning with A or B, or entitled
“An Introduction To”, are almost always lower division courses. Conversely, courses
numbered 300 or 400, or beginning with C or D are usually upper division courses. You
can also refer to college course catalogs or consult with college advisors or officials to
help you to determine the appropriate level of courses.

Attachment 3 is a list of wildland fire courses, which may also be applied to this
requirement. Additional creditable education may be added to this listing after a
thorough review process, involving subject matter experts from the five land management


Attachment 3

Other Education Creditable Towards 24 Semester Hours Requirement

Creditable education includes education from other than an accredited institute of higher
learning that meets the requirements of the qualifications standards. To meet the 24
semester hour requirement, the other education must be equivalent to course work in a
Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science degree in biological sciences, natural resources,
wildland fire management, forestry, or agriculture. Therefore, most technology type
coursework will not meet this requirement.

Technical Fire Management’ - Upper Division 18 semester hours
All modules must be successfully completed before the 18 semester hours is credited.

Module I/IA _ Statistics/Computers & Math
Module II Economics

Module III Fuels Management
ModuleIV __ Fire Ecology and Fire Effects
Module V Fire and Land Management
Module VI ___ Final Project Reviews

National Wildfire Coordinating Group (NWCG) Courses” > Upper Division

FIEM Fire in Ecosystem Management 1 semester hour
FML Fire Management Leadership 1 semester hour
FPM Fire Program Management 1 semester hour
LFML Local Fire Management Leadership 1 semester hour
NFMAS National Fire Management Analysis System 1 semester hour
RX-450 Smoke Management Techniques 1 semester hour
RX-540 Applied Fire Effects 1 semester hour
RX-590 Prescribed Fire Behavior Interpretation 2 semester hours
(to be combined with S-590)
S-490 Advanced Wildland Fire Behavior Calculations 1 semester hour
S-491 National Fire Danger Rating System 1 semester hour
S-492 Long Term Fire Risk Assessment 1 semester hour
S-493 Fire Area Growth Simulation 1 semester hour
S-520 Advanced Incident Management 2 semester hours
S-580 Advanced Fire Use Applications 1 semester hour
(National Parks & Wilderness Fire Mgmt)
S-590 Fire Behavior Interpretation 2 semester hours

S-620 Area Command 1 semester hour


United States Department of the Interior

OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY
Washington, D.C, 20240
OCT - 4 2002
Memorandum
To: Director, Bureau of Land Management

Director, National Park Service

Director, Fish and Wildlife Service

Deputy Commissioner, Bureau of Indian Affairs
Bureau and Equivalent Office Personnel Officers

From: } Carolyn coben Nol VY,

Director, Office of Personnel Policy

Tim Hartzell ton

Director, Office of Wildland Fire Coordination

Subject: Implementation of the Supplemental Qualification Standard for GS-401
Fire Management Specialist

As you may be aware, there has béen an ongoing effort between the Department of the Interior
(DON), Bureau of Land Management (BLM), National Park Service (NPS), Fish and Wildlife
Service (FWS), Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), and the United States Department of Agriculture
(USDA) Forest Service to develop a supplemental qualification standard for fire management
‘specialist positions classified in the GS-401 series. This has now come to fruition with the
approval and release of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Supplemental Qualification
‘Standard for DOI and USDA. The new standard is at attachment (1). Effective immediately,
you should implement this new standard.

_The supplemental standard was developed under the sponsorship of the DOI, Federal Fire and
Aviation Leadership Council, composed of representatives from the BLM, NPS, FWS, BIA, the
Forest Service and USDA. The goal of the supplemental standard is to cnsure consistent
application in qualifying and hiring employees for key fire management specialist positions in
these agencies. The standard is to be used for noncompetitive actions involving reassignment and
selection from another two-graded intcrval position or for competitive actions.

Attachments (2) and (3) are to be used in implementing this standard. Attachment (2) provides
clarifying information about implementation, and attachment (3) provides a list of creditable
courses from other than an accredited university or college that can be used to Satisfy the
educational requirement.


Example 2:

An applicant has only the 24 semester hours of creditable education, which includes
the required 24 semester hours equivalent to a major field of study, (of which at least
18 are upper division). The applicant still must have 3 years, 2 1\2 months of
appropriate experience to meet the basic requirements. This combination equals
100%.

Example 3:

An applicant has 24 semester hours of creditable general education from a local
university and 24 semester hours of NWCG coursework, (of which at least 18 of are
upper division). This applicant will be credited with a total of 48 semester hours of
education. The applicant still must have 2 years, 5 months of appropriate experience
to meet the basic requirements. This combination equals 100%.

Example 4:

An applicant has earned an Associate Degree in Fire Science Management, and has
taken other coursework which together totals 75 semester hours of education.
However, he/she has only earned 10 semesters hours of upper division credit. In
addition, the applicant has 3 years of appropriate experience. The applicant is still
short 8 semester hours of upper level coursework; thus would not meet the basic
requirements.

Note: In any case where NWCG coursework duplicates college or university
coursework, duplicate credits cannot be granted.

Specialized Experience

According to the Qualification Standards for General Schedule Positions Operating
Manual, one-grade interval experience may be qualifying for two-grade interval
positions, provided that the experience demonstrated the Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities
required to perform the work successfully. This is true for either lateral or promotion
actions. The basic requirements for the type and level of experience and/or education
apply to all applicants, whether their experience has been in the same occupation as the
position being filled or in related occupational field. Since two-grade interval positions
may differ significantly in the nature of the work, it is important that applicants be
evaluated on the “knowledge required to do the work.”


For GS-7: Experience that demonstrated an understanding of fire behavior relative to fuels,
weather, and topography and how fire affects natural and cultural resources. Typical assignments
include:

¢ Participating in implementing prescribed fire or fire use plans to ensure resource objectives
can be met from a fire management standpoint.

e Developing initial attack incident management strategies and tactics to meet the stated
resource objectives.

For GS-9: Experience in at least two of the following three categories:

1. Experience that demonstrated understanding of fire effects on cultural and natural resources.
The assignments must have shown participation in activities such as:

e Developing fire management plans to ensure resource objectives can be met from a fire
management standpoint; or

e Conducting field inspections before and/or after prescribed fires or wildland fires to
determine if defined resource objectives have been met.

2. Prescribed fire/fuels management - experience in activities such as:

e Professional forest or range inventory methods and procedures (e.g. Brown's planar
intercept for dead and down fuels; live fuel loading assessments), or

e Analysis of fuel loadings and determination of appropriate fuel treatment methods and
programming, or

e Evaluating prescribed fire plans or fire management plans to ensure fire containment is
possible and identify appropriate suppression contingencies if containment is not obtained.

3. Fire management operations - analyzing and applying fire management strategies, plus
experience in at least four of the following activities:

Mobilization and dispatch coordination
Fire prevention

Training

Logistics

Equipment development and deployment
Fire communications systems
Suppression and preparedness

eovreeee

For GS-11 and above: Experience must have included all of the fire program management
elements as described below:

e Reviewing and evaluating fire management plans for ecological soundness and technical
adequacy;


Attachment 1

SUPPLEMENTAL QUALIFICATION STANDARD FOR THE
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE - FOREST SERVICE
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR - BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS,
BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT, FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE,

AND NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

GS-401 FIRE MANAGEMENT SPECIALIST

This document supplements the requirements outlined in the Qualification Standards for General
Schedule Positions Operating Manual published by the Office of Personnel Management and must
be used in conjunction with those requirements. Additional or clarifying information can be
obtained from the Operating Manual.

Basic Requirements:

A. Degree: biological sciences, agriculture, natural resources management, or related discipline
appropriate to the position being filled.

-OR-

B. Combination of education and experience: courses equivalent to a major in biological sciences,
agriculture, natural resources management, or at least 24 semester hours in biological sciences,
natural resources, wildland fire management, forestry, or agriculture equivalent to a major field of
study, plus appropriate experience or additional education that is comparable to that normally
acquired through the successful completion of a full 4-year course of study in the biological
sciences, agriculture, or natural resources.

Applicants who meet the criteria for Superior Academic Achievement qualify for
positions at the GS-7 level.

Specialized Experience:

For positions at GS-7 and above, one year of specialized experience at the next lower grade level is
required in addition to meeting the basic requirements.


Your Human Resource Offices can respond to further questions you may have about
implementation. Our points of contact for this matter are:

Office of Personnel Policy Office of Wildland Fire Coordination
Lisa Williams Wally Josephson
Lisa_Williams@doi.gov Wally_Josephson @IOS.DOLGOV
(202) 208-6755 (202) 606-3053

3 Attachments

ce:

Chief of Staff

Bureau Fire Directors

‘Wildland Fire Human Resource Advisory Group
USDA Forest Service Liaison

DAS, Human Resources and Workforce Diversity