Forest Inventory Analysis Member - Anchorage Forestry Sciences Lab

Summary

American Conservation Experience, a nonprofit Conservation Corps, in partnership with US Forest Service Anchorage Forestry Sciences Lab (AFSL) is seeking THREE Forest Inventory Analysis Members to contribute to forest inventory projects.

For more information about ACE, please visit our website.

Anchorage Forestry Sciences Laboratory (Anchorage Lab) traces its roots to Juneau's Institute of Northern Forestry, where in the 1950s, forest surveys were led by the Pacific Northwest Forest and Range Experiment Station. The lab moved to Anchorage in the 1970s as the National Forest System ramped up partnerships with Anchorage-based partners. By 1979, the "Alaska Forest Inventory Program" was up and running at the Anchorage lab.

Scientists and staff churned out air photos and other survey data in partnership with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and state agencies. Lab scientists and staff manage both the immensely large forests of Interior Alaska – which alone account for 15% of the total U.S. forested area – to Hawaii and US Affiliated islands of the Pacific basin – including Guam, Palau, and Micronesia.

Major partnerships with the State of Alaska, Universities in Alaska, Hawaii, and Guam, and other federal partners as well as private industry expand the lab's reach and footprint. Lab scientists frequently "go mobile," with aircraft plying the Alaskan skies across both the interior and coastal regions.

Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) is a nationwide program which collects, processes, analyzes, evaluates, and publishes comprehensive information on forest and other related renewable resources. The Anchorage Forestry Sciences Lab (AFSL) is part of the US Forest Service Pacific Northwest Research Station (PNWRS), and is responsible for the inventory of Alaska, Hawaii, and US affiliated Pacific islands. The Alaska FIA program conducts forest inventories and forest health monitoring on forest lands of all land ownerships.

FIA installs permanent research plots that are measured on a 10-year cycle. A wide range of forestry variables are collected on each plot in addition to forest health measurements that can include vegetation, lichens, soils, fuels, and crown measurements. The inventory data are widely used by forest managers, local and state governments and federal agencies in making policy decisions.

For more information about the Anchorage Forestry Sciences Lab, please visit the US Forest Service website.

• The primary responsibilities of this position include photo interpretation, locating inventory plots in remote settings, measuring various forest and site attributes, and supporting the safety program.
• Field measurements taken by crews include: tree, sapling, and seedling data (species, diameter, height, defect, insect & disease identification, crown condition, damage, etc.); understory vegetation structure and composition assessments; down woody material measurements (line transects, litter depth, and fuels measurement, etc.); and site index and site attribute assessments (site tree selection, slope, aspect, topographic position, site description, etc.).
• Crews use portable, handheld computers to collect data in the field and then process the data later using laptops to address any inconsistencies or errors in field data collection. Duties include daily documentation, downloading, and editing of field data.
• In Alaska, interns will work as part of a larger team of 10-12 scientists and technicians during the field season stationed on the research vessel, and each day will visit one or more research sites with a smaller subset of that team, consisting of between 2-4 individuals.
• During the Alaska field season, fieldwork is conducted from a live-aboard research vessel, and field sites are visited via helicopter on a daily basis.
• Transportation, lodging, and meals are all provided during periods of travel away from Anchorage for fieldwork.
• While in Anchorage, members will need to…