Forestry Worker

Work description

**Introduction:** Native Creations Landscape Services, Inc. (Native Creations) has provided reforestation, riparian buffer installation, and habitat restoration services since 2017 from its office at 1751 Freas Ave., Berwick, Columbia County, Pennsylvania. Native Creations' worksite region is classified by NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information as the Northeast Climate Region, characterized by four well-defined seasons: warm, humid summers; cold, snowy winters; and a compressed dormant-season window in fall, winter, and early spring during which the great majority of tree and shrub planting, site preparation, and habitat-management work described below must occur (NOAA NCEI, U.S. Climate Regions, https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/monitoring/reference-maps/us-climate-regions). Native Creations maintains a permanent, year-round core workforce that carries out its baseline reforestation and conservation operations. Beginning each October, however, the volume of contracted work driven by regional climate and by growing-season restrictions written directly into Native Creations' service contracts rises well beyond what the permanent workforce can perform unassisted, creating a temporary, recurring peakload need for supplemental labor. Due to a delay in receiving FLC and FLCE licenses, Native Creations is forced to apply for the soonest start date they can: December 1st. **Job Description:** The duties workers will be performing at the place of employment during the requested dates of need include the following: Workers will perform manual and semi-skilled forestry and conservation tasks including planting tree seedlings by hand and with mechanized equipment; loading and unloading trucks and trailers with tools, materials, and plant stock; applying pesticides and herbicides using backpack and mechanical sprayers in compliance with safety regulations; operating brush saws and chainsaws for site preparation, thinning, and vegetation control; collecting seeds, cones, and forest materials; conducting livestake collection; and digging, bundling, and preparing trees and plants for transport or replanting. Work is performed outdoors in varying weather conditions and terrain, requiring physical labor and adherence to safety protocols & other related Forestry Worker activities as per SOC/OES 45-4011 (onetonline.org). **Temporary Need Justification:** Native Creations' need is properly classified as peakload under 20 CFR 655.6(b)(2): the employer regularly employs a permanent workforce to perform these services year-round, but regularly requires temporary additional workers for a limited, recurring period each year because of a seasonal increase in workload above what the permanent staff can absorb. The requested workers will not displace or replace permanent employees and will not become part of the permanent workforce; their assignment ends when the seasonal workload described below subsides. The Northeast Region's dormant season dictates the calendar on which nearly all of Native Creations' contracted habitat and reforestation work must be performed: October December: Fall is the primary planting window across Native Creations' active contracts (Section V below), and the ideal period to begin dormant-season habitat installation. Cold stratification during this period exposes seed to prolonged cold temperatures that break dormancy and improve spring germination, so fall seeding and planting must begin before the ground freezes. January March: This is the peak window for dormant-season habitat management timber stand improvement, invasive species control, and warm-season-grass/old-field maintenance which several of Native Creations' contracts require to be completed before the April 1 nesting-season mowing restriction takes effect. April June: Spray work for vegetation control and herbaceous-competition treatment predominates...

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Last updated: October 7, 2026