Back to Colorado?!

I might be going back to Colorado! I just got a call from the forest service in Boulder. It's another exotic plants job. I know I was trying to get out of that niche, but if it's offered I'd be hard pressed to say no! Here's what I'd do:

 

The Boulder Ranger District is located in Boulder County and northern Gilpin County, from about 6,800 feet to over 13,000 feet in elevation.  A variety of ecosystems are represented, with associated diversity of plants and animals, and beautiful scenery.  The land ownership pattern is a challenging intermix of private, city, county, state, and federal lands and the area is heavily used for recreation. 

 

The Boulder Ranger District plans to hire two Range Technicians for the 2004 field season.  Primary emphasis of work will be noxious weeds.  Most work will be field-oriented, with some office days for paperwork and data maintenance.

 

Responsibilities include:

 

            - Pull noxious weeds, including coordinating with Americorps crews, community service crews, and volunteer groups

 

            - Conduct ongoing weed inventory and monitoring using GPS and hand mapping

 

            - Coordinate with local agencies and communities to enhance weed awareness

 

- Maintain noxious weed database

 

            - Conduct range allotment administration and monitoring

 

Skills and experience needed and/or desired include:  plant identification, especially noxious weeds; vegetation mapping; range management; good communication skills; use of map, compass, aerial photos; defensive driving on rough mountain roads; GPS; Microsoft Access or other database programs; ARCVIEW

 

Opportunities will be provided occasionally to work on District projects in other resource areas such as recreation and wildlife.

 

(The photo is a Prickly Poppy, taken by me near Buena Vista)