Open for Applications from September 29- October 6
For the summer of 2023 the Okanogan-Wenatchee is hiring for three crews, 8 positions total, across the Forest, one in Cle Elum, one in Naches, and one for the North Zone of the forest. Applications are accepted between September 29 and October 6 at usajobs.gov, duty locations are in Washington State Ranger Districts in the eastern side of the Cascades: Naches, Cle Elum, Leavenworth, Entiat, Chelan, and Winthrop.
There is government housing available in Cle Elum for $170 a month, but for the other locations you would have to find your own place to stay. If you are interested in a specific location and want to talk to the hiring manager, contact the lead archaeologists who will be doing the hiring for each duty location:
Naches, WA: Anna Jansson, email: anna.jansson@usda.gov
Cle Elum, WA: Heather Davis, email: heather.davis@usda.gov
Leavenworth, Entiat, Chelan, and Winthrop, WA: Amanda Cervantes, email: amanda.cervantes@usda.gov
Starts dates are flexible from April 9 to June 15th.
End date is September 30 but can be extended depending on funding. You can leave earlier if you need to go back to school or have other commitments.
During the season we are flexible with time off, so if you want to take time off to go on a vacation or do a field school, we can work with that, please just let us know as soon as possible in advance.
The work schedule is 40hr/week Monday-Thursday, 10hr/day from 7am-5:30 pm.
The work is about 95% field work with about 5% office work.
The field crew is composed of one GS-7 ($21.44/hour) crew lead and then two to three crew members that are anywhere between GS-3s to GS-6s ($13.78 to $19.29/hour) depending on experience. Below is a table showing what you need to qualify for each GS level, will increase slightly in 2023.
| GS Level | Qualifications | 2022 Hourly Wage |
| GS 3 | 6 months of general experience OR 1 year above high school with courses related to archaeology OR a combination of experience and education | $13.78 |
| GS 4Arch Tech | 6 months of general experience and 6 months of specialized experience OR 2 years above high school with courses related to archaeology OR a combination of experience and education | $15.47 |
| GS 5Arch Tech | 1 year of experience equivalent to a GS 4 OR 4 years above high school with courses related to archaeology OR a combination of experience and education | $17.31 |
| GS 6Arch Tech | 1 year of experience equivalent to a GS 5 | $19.29 |
| GS 7Arch TechCrew Lead | 1 year of specialized experience equivalent to a GS 6 OR 1 full year of graduate level coursework in archaeology or related field OR combinations of specialized experience and graduate level education | $21.44 |
Primarily the work is going out in the field with the crew and doing pedestrian survey and shovel testing to look for new archaeological sites. The crew goes out in the field together and then walks transects spaced every 20 meters through the survey areas for our projects. If a new site is found, the crew works together to record the new site. We dig shovel test pits during the pedestrian survey and then also to define the boundaries of archaeological sites. Sometimes we revisit old sites and re-record them to update the site’s condition. When we go out in the field we work in mountainous, forested areas which are remote areas where there aren’t a lot of other people. I find that people who like doing outdoors activities and hiking excel as archaeological technicians here at the Forest Service. The office work, which is a very small part of what we do, is getting your computer set up and doing some mandatory trainings and entering your time every pay period.
Here are the links to the job posting for each GS level and their job announcement numbers:
GS-7: https://www.usajobs.gov/job/680257700# 23-TEMP3-R6-2362-7DT-MG
GS-6: https://www.usajobs.gov/job/680174300 23-TEMP3-R6-2361-6DT-ME
GS-5: https://www.usajobs.gov/job/680258900 23-TEMP3-R6-2360-5DT-MM
GS-4: https://www.usajobs.gov/job/680191000 23-TEMP3-R6-2359-4DT-HS
GS-3: https://www.usajobs.gov/job/680176700 23-TEMP3-R6-3257-3DT-ME
If you have any questions on the job, or how to apply, or anything at all, feel free to reach out to any of the three hiring managers listed in the post.
