Dear Editor,

The Rocky Mountain Region of the USDA Forest Service is hiring permanent wildland firefighters for the 2025 fire year across national forests and grasslands in Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, and Wyoming. 130 of those positions will be based at various locations across the Rocky Mountain Region.

New hires will increase the agency’s capacity to prepare for catastrophic wildfire, implement fire prevention and active forest management strategies, and respond effectively to wildfire emergencies to safeguard lives, property, and natural resources.

Positions include aviation officers, dispatchers, equipment operators, fire engine operators, fire management officers, fire planners, fire prevention specialists, forestry aids and technicians, handcrew members, helitack crew members, hotshot crew members, pilots, prescribed fire and fuels specialists, smokejumpers, and more. Pay plans include Wage Grade, Wage Leader, and General Schedule levels 3–13.

Job information is available online on the Forest Service Careers webpage. Job seekers can apply through USAJobs.gov from April 14–24, 2025.

Any U.S. citizen or national who is at least 18 years of age can apply. Hiring managers will use a Direct Hire Authority to hire applicants, meaning Veterans' Preference and traditional rating and ranking of applicants do not apply.

About the Forest Service: The agency manages 193 million acres of public land, provides assistance to state and private landowners, maintains the largest wildland fire and forestry research organizations in the world. The Forest Service also has either a direct or indirect role in stewardship of about 900 million forested acres within the U.S., of which over 130 million acres are urban forests where most Americans live.

Donna Nemeth,

Regional Press Officer,

Forest Service

Rocky Mountain Regional Office