Natural Resources Specialist

Duties

• Provides technical assistance to the Field and District Office Managers on the wild horse and burro program.
• Coordinates with district and field office personnel, other federal and state agencies, and interest groups outside the Bureau.
• Implements trapping efforts.
• Provides WH&B population, ecological, genetic, behavioral, and habitat information and management recommendations for inclusion into BLM planning documents.
• Serves as interdisciplinary team leader on WH&B NEPA documents, insuring all applicable resource information and concerns are addressed during the evaluation process.
• Coordinates with other district and field office specialists to assure all required clearances and documentation are completed prior to plan and project implementation.
• Responsible for the collection and interpretation of program specific and interdisciplinary studies.
• Prepares, designs, analyzes, and implements WH&B HMAPs or other documents involving management actions specific to the unique situations and objectives of each HMA that will ensure plant and animal diversity required to comply with federal laws pertaining to the WH&B program and multiple use management. These plans analyze demographic, genetic, behavioral, population, vegetation, water quantity/quality, and habitat data to insure a viable population that is compatible with other resources.
• Prepares monitoring plans for each HMA to insure collection of data; and coordinates with other disciplines (e.g., range, wildlife, etc.), to insure integrated, cost-effective data gathering efforts.
• Develops plans detailing desired HMA objectives, specific management actions to meet these objectives, and addresses the genetic consequences of managing populations at specific levels.
• Conducts public meetings and makes contact with WH&B special interest groups, the media, humane groups, grazing permittees, local law enforcement agencies, and working contacts with federal and state agencies.
• Plans and designs WH&B habitat improvements and vegetative treatments that meet program goals and multiple-use constraints and objectives.
• Formulates habitat improvement projects for inclusion into the AWP and prepares project check list, cooperative agreements, benefit cost ratio, environmental assessment (EA), and necessary National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) documentation.
• May supervise project construction involving volunteers.