Department: Department of the Interior
Location(s): Denali Park, Alaska, Marble Falls, Arkansas, Agoura Hills, California, Mineral, California, Tulelake, California, Estes Park, Colorado, Hawaii National Park, Hawaii, Los Alamos, New Mexico, Boulder City, Nevada, Marblemount, Washington, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
Salary Range: $44112 - $80259 Per Year
Job Summary: Positions serve as a developmental trainee as a Registered Wildland Firefighter Apprentice on wildland fire crews involving the operation and maintenance of specialized tools or equipment. Information on the Wildland Fire Apprenticeship Program can be found at: https://www.nafri.gov/wfap/ Open to the first 500 applicants or until the closing date of 05/06/2026, whichever comes first. All applications submitted by 11:59 (EST) on the closing day will receive consideration.
Major Duties:
Qualifications: All qualifications must be met by the closing date of this announcement05/05/2026 unless otherwise stated in this vacancy announcement.Credit will be given for all appropriate qualifying experience. To receive credit for experience, your resume MUST clearly indicate the nature of the duties and responsibilities for each position, starting and ending dates of employment (month/year), and the resume must reflect full and/or part-time or total number of hours worked (i.e., work 40+ hours a week, rather than indicating full-time). If part-time, the hours must be annotated to be able to pro-rate the amount qualified specialized experience. For periods of time that reflect military service, the DD-214 or Statement of Service is sufficient to meet the full and/or part-time hours requirement as the service dates will be reflected. Selective Factor: This position is covered by the special retirement provisions of 5 U.S.C. 8336 (c) and 5 U.S.C. 8412 (d) as a Primary/Rigorous Firefighter. Applicants must be 18 years of age, but not have reached their 37th birthday by the closing date of this announcement. These positions are covered by the special enhanced annuity retirement provisions for Federal Firefighters and Law Enforcement officers and have a mandatory retirement age of 57. Two exceptions are allowed: 1) an applicant has prior Federal service in documented special retirement covered position(s) sufficient to count toward 20 years of covered service on or before the mandatory retirement age of 57; or 2) an applicant is a qualified veterans' preference eligible, in which case the MEA is waived and their corresponding retirement age may be higher than 57 after completing 20 years of service. Applicants must submit proof of their previous and/or current status in the Fire Fighter or Law Enforcement special enhanced annuity retirement system. -AND- To Qualify for the GW-0456-03 You must possess 6 months of general work experience, which can be any work experience. OR Successful completion of 1 year of study above high school in an accredited college or university that included at least 6 semester hours in a combination of courses such as range management or conservation, agriculture, forestry, wildlife management, engineering, biology, mathematics, or other natural or physical sciences. OR An appropriate combination of education and experience that equals 100%. To Qualify for the GW-0456-04 6 months general experience; AND 6 full months of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-3 level in the Federal Service. Examples of qualifying specialized experience include: forestry aid or technician work; farming or ranching work that provided a basic understanding of land use and management practices; forest or range fire control, prevention, or suppression work. OR Successfully completed two years or more of education above high school (60 semester hour or 90 quarter hours) that included at least twelve semester hours in any combination of courses such as forestry, agriculture, crop or plant science, range management or conservation, wildlife management, watershed management, soil science, natural resources (except marine fisheries and oceanography), outdoor recreation management, civil or forest engineering, or wildland fire science. OR A combination of the education and work experience described above. For example, I have three months of general experience and three months of specialized experience (50% of the experience requirement), and 45 semester hours or 68 quarter hours of college study that included at least 9 semester hours courses as described above (50% of the education requirement). To Qualify for the GW-0456-05 1 year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-4 level in the Federal Service demonstrated by performing range or forest fire control, prevention, or suppression work. Examples of qualifying specialized experience include assisting firefighting crews in prescribed burning and wildfire suppression field operations and assisted in wildland fire suppression, preparedness, prevention, monitoring, hazardous fuels reduction and prescribed fire as wildland firefighter crewmember. OR Completed least a full 4-year course of study above high school (120 semester hour or 180 quarter hours) leading to a bachelor's degree with major study in forestry, range management, agriculture or a subject-matter field directly related to the position (e.g., fire science, suppression and prevention), or that included at least 24 semester hours of course work in any combination of courses such as forestry, agriculture, crop or plant science, range management or conservation, wildlife management, watershed management, soil science, natural resources (except marine fisheries and oceanography), outdoor recreation management, civil or forest engineering, or wildland fire science. No more than 6 semester hours in mathematics is creditable toward the 24 hours. OR Combination of education and experience that when combined meet 100% of the qualification requirements. For example, I have 6 months of the specialized experience described in A above (50% of the experience requirement), and three years of college study from an accredited institution, which included at least 12 semester hours of related coursework as specified in B above (50% of the qualifying education). NOTE: Only education in excess of the first 60 semester hours of a course of study leading to a bachelor's degree is creditable toward meeting the specialized experience requirements. IMPORTANT - PLEASE NOTE: If you are using education to qualify you must submit a legible copy of your transcripts (A copy of your official transcripts will be required before entrance on duty, if selected). Volunteer Experience: Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religious; spiritual; community, student, social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. Must list hours volunteered.
How to Apply: To apply for this position: You must complete the occupational questionnaire and submit the documentation specified in the Required Documents section below. To receive consideration, the complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (EST) on 05/05/2026. You must provide documentation to support your claim for each eligibility selected. Please review the required documentation listed in the eligibilities language to ensure you submit the appropriate information. Note: You will only be marked eligible for those eligibilities that you selected and provided the appropriate supporting documentation. WE DO NOT ACCEPT HARD-COPY OR E-MAIL APPLICATION PACKAGES. Select Apply. If you are not logged in, you will be prompted to login or create an account. Start the Application Process by selecting "Start Application." Click here for USAJobs Help with "How to create an application" To PREVIEW the application questionnaire, select the following link: https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12930247 Select or add the resume you want to use for this application. Click here on how to build a resume in USAJOBS. Select documents you want included in this application. Review package to acknowledge your documents were reviewed. Select if you want to include your demographic information. After reading and certifying the application is true and submitted in good faith, select "Continue to Agency Site." Follow onscreen prompts and instructions to complete your application. Add the supporting documents by indexing your documents with the dropdown. Upload any missing required documents or optional documents. Review and Submit Application. While logged in, you can check the status of your application by selecting "+" next to the job title for this position. You can review or revise your application at any point during the open period of the announcement. To update an application, you should log into your USAJOBS account and select "+" next to the job title for this position. Select "Update Application" for this job. Note: When you click Update Application, you will be prompted to re-select your documents from USAJOBS. Documents submitted with the first application will no longer be associated with the applicant record. It is important that you select all documents you want to use in the re-application.
Application Deadline: 2026-05-05