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kathy_m_davis@nps.gov
Chief of Natural Resources, Southern Arizona Office; Phoenix, Arizona
Back to Chapter 1: New Horizons
Natural Resource Challenge addresses natural resource protection needs
by Abigail Miller and Douglas K. Morris
Thrusts of the Natural Resource Challenge
Natural resources law and policy course revived for superintendents
by Carol McCoy, Bob Karotko, and Sharon Kliwinski
SUWA case has ramifications for NPS management policies
by Chick Fagan
NPS establishes environmental leadership program
by Shawn Norton and Dan Kimball
From local to regional: A new focus for air resources protection
by Bruce Polkowsky
Award-Winner Profile--Kathy Davis
by Kathy M. Davis
The first action of the Natural Resource Challenge, Resources Careers, was implemented by Director Stanton on 17 December 1999 to help the Park Service fairly and effectively manage and develop its natural and cultural resources personnel. The National Park Service realizes that if park resources are to be managed effectively, superintendents must have easy access to advice from resource professionals, and the resource management tools available to them must be increased. The Natural Resource Challenge stresses that the NPS workforce must have the appropriate professional, technical, and leadership skills to identify resource issues; obtain, interpret, and apply scientific information; and solve highly technical and complex policy problems. It also states that development programs for field staffs must be strengthened so that they can contribute effectively to the resource preservation mission, and that they must have opportunities to advance and achieve upper-level management positions. Resources Careers, which was begun in 1994 by the Careers Council of the Vail Agenda, provides the personnel management tools to carry out the Natural Resource Challenge.
The most important feature that Resources Careers establishes is a career ladder of GS-5/7/9/11 for 24 professional resource management positions, which will be the norm throughout the National Park Service. Following extensive field reviews, human resource advisors found that GS-11 was the minimum full performance level for professional resource management positions. The career ladder offers an entry level with the opportunity for professional development and career growth.
"Resources Careers ... provides the personnel tools to carry out the Natural Resource Challenge."
A total of 81 benchmark position descriptions (PDs) for professional (GS-5/7/9/11; GS-12) and technician (GS-5, GS-6, and GS-7) jobs were written precisely for the specialized resource expertise needed by the National Park Service. Collectively, the PDs, which cover the academic disciplines for work done in the National Park Service, allow managers to create effective position management plans for existing and future resource management divisions. Supervisors can avoid the generalized lumping that created the "GS-401 natural resources specialist" occupation and acknowledge that the Park Service needs botanists, biologists, fisheries biologists, hydrologists, physical scientists, and other applied specialists in addition to resource program managers. The Resources Careers Committee looked to the cultural resources disciplines as a model for using applied specialists, such as archeologists, curators, historians, archivists, and librarians.
Resources Careers is designed to be flexible by adding or editing position descriptions in the future. It is the foundation that describes the type of work done by the National Park Service and sets the grade value of that work. When the initiative started six years ago, chief of resource management positions were filled at the GS-7/9 level. Now they are typically GS-9/11 or above in recognition of their complexity. Supervisors are reappraising current positions as being either program managers or applied specialists and using the correct series for the expertise needed. Technician position descriptions have pointed out inappropriately assigned work, beyond an employee's grade level, and incumbents have been upgraded to be compensated for the demands of the job. These examples demonstrate the positive impact Resources Careers has already had on improving the development and management of professional staff to meet the needs of complex resource management issues in the parks.
Extensive position management guidance, including all of the PDs and the career ladders, is featured on the NPS Natural Resources Intranet website at www1.nrintra.nps.gov/careers/. Additionally, each park will receive a manual that explains the new personnel management tools.
This material is from Natural Resource Year in Review--1999; published by the National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, August 2000 (publication D-1406)
/YearInReview/yir/yir99/pages/01horizons/02davis_rc.htm
Last Updated: 09/26/00
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