NOTE: Applicants must live in the state of South Carolina and live within local commuting distance of one of the NRCS' Field Offices located in: Abbeville, Aiken, Anderson, Spartanburg, Chester, Chesterfield, Edgefield, Greenville, Greenwood, Camden, Lancaster, Laurens, Lexington, Newberry, Walhalla, Saluda, or York.
Being Age 55 or Older is Good for The Environment! The Agricultural Conservation Experienced Services (ACES) Program offers unique opportunities in Scientific, Technical, and Agricultural support for individuals aged 55 and over to support the Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) through a grant administered program awarded to National Experienced Workforce Solutions (NEW Solutions). This is a unique program where your talents, expertise, and experience will truly be valued. The ACES program provides an opportunity to work side-by-side with NRCS staff that are doing important work every day. Benefits: Paid Health Insurance Premium for positions budgeted at 60+ hours per pay period, Accrued Vacation and Sick Leave, Paid Federal Holidays, and optional Vision and Dental Insurance available for positions budgeted at 35+ hours per pay period. Positions listed here do not guarantee employment for any definite period. Enrollment in the Experienced Worker Programs administered by NEW Solutions is temporary. The enrollment relationship between NEW Solutions and the Enrollee is an "at-will" relationship. This means that an Enrollee is free to terminate enrollment at any time during the enrollment period, and NEW Solutions and the Agency have the right to terminate the relationship with the Enrollee. PLEASE NOTE: An "ACES Enrollee" is not a federal employee, nor an employee of NEW Solutions. An "ACES Enrollee" is a participant in a grant program established through a Cooperative Agreement funded by the USDA-NRCS and administered by NEW Solutions. This opportunity applies to applicants legally eligible to work in the United States.
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Qualifications:
NOTE: Applicants must live in the state of South Carolina and live within local commuting distance of one of the NRCS' Field Offices located in: Abbeville, Aiken, Anderson, Spartanburg, Chester, Chesterfield, Edgefield, Greenville, Greenwood, Camden, Lancaster, Laurens, Lexington, Newberry, Walhalla, Saluda, or York.
- Minimum of 15 year(s) of experience in Natural resources planning field and completed training in conservation planning. OR BA/BS Degree in Natural Resources Field.
- Valid State Driver's license.
- Knowledge of conservation planning related to soil, water, air, plants, and animals. Addressing associate resource concerns, knowledge of engineering design principles and job approval authority, knowledge of Farm Bill and State Agricultural Cost Share Programs.
- Experience required with Windows, MS Word, MS Excel
- PowerPoint, Conservation Desktop, ProTracts, ArcGIS.
Duties:
Provide professional assistance and advise soil conservationist, soil conservationist technician, district conservationist regarding survey, design, installation, checkout and follow-up (including annual contract review) for practices in Farm Bill program contracts in accordance with NRCS standards and specifications. Works with the Farmville Area Office staff members and supports the twelve Service Centers in their daily work to provide Conservation Technical Assistance and Farm Bill Programs to the general public.
- Provide support to the Area Office Staff with field work (survey, layout of conservation practices and checkout) especially for any Farm Bill Program Contracts. 25%
- Assist the field office staff with: Follow-up with producers on various practices including agronomic and livestock to ensure standards are being met along with the resource concern being solved. Conduct site inspections of on-going projects to assure that practices being installed meet specifications. Nine Steps of Conservation Planning in order to produce a conservation plan for any USDA NRCS & FSA conservation program signup/deadline. Surveying & layout for any conservation practice. 25%
- Perform Cultural Resource Reviews for Area I. 20%
- Perform Highly Erodible Cropland Determination for Area I. 20%
- Use of hand tools (e.g. clinometer, hand level) to determine percentage slope and slope length and use Global Positioning system and/or measuring wheel to estimate planned practices and make a final measure of complete practices. 10%
Other:
- Annual information system security, anti-harassment, civil rights, and program related training.
- Travel Requirements: Occasionally to satisfy the duties of the position. Government vehicle provided when working in remote farms or communities.
- Health and Safety Considerations: Walking through woody areas will require training in the basic first aid for tick & snake bites, an orientation session on the importance of proper wearing apparel such as long sleeve shirts, boots, sunscreen, and finally, use of the defensive driving techniques when operation a government vehicle. There will be an initial orientation session and periodic follow-up reviews.
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