OUTREACH NOTICE

District Fire Management Officer, GS-301-11

NATIONAL FORESTS IN MISSISSIPPI

De Soto Ranger District
Wiggins, MS

“Caring for the land and serving the people”

The National Forests in Mississippi is filling a GS-0301-11 District Fire Management Officer position
on the De Soto Ranger District. This job is a permanent, full-time position with the duty station at
Wiggins, Mississippi. This notification is being circulated to inform prospective applicants of this
upcoming opportunity.

OUTREACH RESPONSE
Title, GS-Series-Grade: District/Zone Fire Management Officer, GS-0301-11
District/Unit: De Soto Ranger District, NFs in Mississippi
Duty Station: Wiggins, MS
Date of Notice 2/1/2021

POSITION INFORMATION

Major Duties:
This position is located on a High complexity Forest Service unit (De Soto Ranger District, Wiggins
MS). The incumbent will serve as District Fire Management Officer (DFMO) with the responsibility of
providing leadership, coordination, and direction for the unit’s fire and aviation program. The incumbent
is responsible for coordinating the development of short and long-range fire and fuels management
program plans, all fire management activities on the unit, and integrating the unit’s fire management
program with other disciplines, as well as interagency partners, to achieve goals consistent with the
Federal Wildland Fire Policy and agency manual direction.

The Fire Management Officer on the De Soto Ranger District manages a permanent workforce of 20
employees spread between four duty stations. The fire/fuels organization includes two Assistant Fire
Management Officers, two type 6 engine modules, 2 fire apprentices, and 2 fuels technicians. The
average annual fire load is roughly 60 starts per year. Fuels target is 84,000 acres. Integration and
coordination of the fire and fuels programs with timber, silviculture, lands, recreation, special uses and
other program areas to achieve integrated vegetation management targets is a priority.

The position is categorized as a Sub-Unit Fire Program Manager in the Interagency Fire Program
Management (IFPM) Standard and Guide as designated by the W.O. Fire and Aviation Management.
The IFPM selective placement factors for the position must be met prior to entrance into the position as
a condition of hire or placement into a temporary promotion detail. Refer to the Forest Service IFPM
Standard Position Description Crosswalk for a full description of the selective placement factors.

The De Soto Ranger District, on the National Forests in Mississippi, shares resources across district
boundaries. The incumbent will serve on several teams that work to advance goals across all National
Forests in Mississippi; therefore, work will include working across program areas and district
boundaries, working in all resource areas, and some weekend work.

This position will report to and be supervised by the District Ranger.

OTHER SIGNIFICANT FACTS:

WORK CAPACITY TEST (WCT) for Wildland Firefighters: This position participates in wildland
firefighting activities. Based on the type of work performed, TAKING and PASSING the WCT at the
ARDUOUS level is required.

Under the Forest Service Fire Program Management (FS-FPM) Qualification Standards, the selectee
must meet NWCG Incident Management Qualifications and the Additional Required Training as
specified under FS-FPM for the position encumbered.

Key Fire Management Position: District Fire Management Officer- High Complexity

NWCG Incident Management Qualifications: Division/Group Supervisor (DIVS) and either Incident
Commander Type 3 (ICT3) or Prescribed Fire Burn Boss 2 (RXB2).

OR

Air Support Group Supervisor (ASGS) and Incident Commander Type 3 (ICT3)
Additional Required Training: M-581

For additional information on FS-FPM:

http://www.fs.fed.us/fire/management/ifpm/crosswalk.pdf
http://www.fs.fed.us/fire/management/ifpm/index.html

DISTRICT INFORMATION
The De Soto National Forest is the largest National Forest within the National Forests in Mississippi
with over 500,000 acres (the De Soto Ranger District has approximately 382,000 acres and the
Chickasawhay Ranger District has approximately 150,000 acres). The District is located in eight
southern Mississippi counties and extends from just south of Hattiesburg, MS to within 5 miles of
Gulfport, MS.

The District has over 200 special uses, the largest being an 117,000 acre special use with the Mississippi
Military Department, known as Camp Shelby, MS. Camp Shelby is the largest National Guard Training
installation in the United States.

The De Soto Ranger District plans to sell around 10-15 million board feet of timber annually.
Recreational use of the district is high by local residents, Louisiana residents, and visitors from other
states and abroad; with 10 developed recreation areas, 175 miles of hiking, mountain bike, ATV and
horse trails. The district also features the only two wilderness areas, the only National Wild and Scenic
River, and the only handicapped accessible lake in the state.

With the rapidly growing population on the Gulf Coast, the district is experiencing a tremendous
wildland/urban interface situation. The District is considered an urban forest because of its proximity to
New Orleans, Gulfport/Biloxi, and Mobile.

COMMUNITY INFORMATION
The District office is located in Wiggins, MS, approximately halfway between Hattiesburg and Gulfport.
Most of the District’s 39 employees live in the Wiggins area, Hattiesburg, or Gulfport. Hattiesburg lies
35 miles to the north with Gulfport/Biloxi 35 miles to the South of the district. All of these communities
offer various cultural events, health care facilities and schools. See below for more information on these
communities

WIGGINS
http://www.cityofwiggins.com/
http://stonecounty.com/

GULFPORT/BILOXI
http://www.gulfcoast.org/
http://www.gulfport-ms.gov/
http://gulfportareachamberofcommerce.org/
http://biloxi.org/
http://www.biloxi.ms.us/visitor-info/

HATTIESBURG

http://www.hattiesburg.org/
http://www.theadp.com/greater-hattiesburg/overview-of-greater-hattiesburg

FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION regarding the position contact:

Anne Casey, District Ranger
Office 601-528-6179, cell 520-507-0292
anne.casey@usda.gov

Or,
Chandra Roberts, Deputy District Ranger
Office: 601-528-6174, cell: 601-317-6034
chandra.roberts@usda.gov
OUTREACH NOTICE RESPONSE FORM
De Soto Ranger District
Please Respond by March 19, 2021

Position Title/Series/Grade: District Fire Management Officer, GS-0301-11

Location: Wiggins, MS

Personal Information
Name: Date:
Address:

E-Mail Address: ___________________________________________________

Phone
:

Current Title/Series/Grade:

Highest Position Held:

Title/Series/Grade:
Location:

Are you currently a Federal Employee? Yes: No:

If YES, Type of Appoint you are

currently under:
(e.g., Career, Career-Conditional, Excepted)
Current Agency and
location:

If NO: Are you a temporary employee? Yes: No:

Please briefly describe why you will be a quality candidate for this position:

Please return this form to : Jessica Hollingsworth, Fire Planner, Supervisor’s Office
jessica.hollingsworth@usda.gov, (601) 966-0331. Please also include a Resume with your response.