Agricultural Inspector I

Forest Pest Mgmt•Harford, MD

7d•Onsite

About The Position

The Maryland Department of Agriculture's Forest Pest Management Program protects Maryland's rural and urban forest tree resources from adverse effects of insects, diseases, and other pests through environmentally sound pest management. This position is assigned to the Northeast Region – Baltimore City, Baltimore, Cecil, Harford, and Kent Counties, and additional areas as assigned. The main purpose of this job is to enhance the quality of life for the citizens of the Northeast Region and other sections of Maryland by protecting the forest resources from the adverse effects of insects and diseases through environmentally and economically sound pest management.

Requirements

Graduation from an accredited high school or possession of a high school equivalency certificate.
One year of experience in one of the following: production, processing, marketing, grading or inspection of agricultural products or chemicals; assisting veterinarians in the care and management of animals; animal disease control; care or management of livestock or inspecting veterinary hospitals, riding stables or livestock dealers; installation, inspection, repair, or testing of weighting, volumetric measuring or counting devices; inspecting labeling and packaging; pesticide sales, use, regulation, or application; production, maintenance or inspection of a tree plantation or nursery stock; pest or weed control; wildlife population censuring; or the production, sales, inspection or testing of seed or turf products.
Fifteen credit hours in agriculture; animal, biological, environmental, food or physical sciences; chemistry; mathematics; engineering, or law enforcement at an accredited college or university may substitute for the required experience.
U.S. Armed Forces military service experience as a non-commissioned officer in quality assurance, inspection and grading classification or quality assurance, inspection and grading specialty codes in the agricultural commodity grading field of work may substitute for the required experience on a year-for-year basis.
Employees in this classification may be assigned duties which require the operation of a motor vehicle. Employees assigned such duties will be required to possess a motor vehicle operator license’s valid in the State of Maryland.

Nice To Haves

Experience in dendrology, i.e., the study of trees and tree identification
Experience in speaking with the public
Experience in insect pest surveying, and insect identification and inspection
Experience in insect pest control

Responsibilities

Learns and performs spongy moth egg mass surveys to determine population density following FPM and Regional survey protocols.
Maintains and updates records in regional database to accurately reflect site locations and survey area boundaries and population densities.
Learns to evaluate wooded areas, both new and previously surveyed, to determine their status for survey based on FPM site criteria.
Suggests alternative egg mass survey locations to expedite the completion of the survey following FPM site criteria.
Participates in at least one general spongy moth survey in the region (such as male trap, burlap trap, random egg mass or larval checks, pre/post suppression survey, etc.) to monitor population trends, following established protocols.
Assists regional entomologist and other higher-level inspectors and specialists to prepare for a Spongy Moth Suppression program. This includes but is not limited to learning to delineate block boundaries, assign importance ranking, identify landowners via GIS, prepare notification mailings, and attend public informational meetings.
Assists with all aspects of the Spongy Moth Suppression program. This includes but is not limited to gathering Pretreatment block information such as flight hazards and human use statistics, preparing suppression notebooks, assisting with calibrations, learning and performing block monitor duties during suppression, and completing post suppression efficacy evaluations.
Works as part of team on suppression activities for hemlock woolly adelgid, including learning to mix and apply pesticides, tree selection, and keeping daily records.
Learns and performs hemlock woolly adelgid pre and post treatment efficacy evaluations to quantify adelgid levels on treated and control trees.
Learn to select appropriate treatment sites, release parasitoids, treat trees, and consider other suppression efforts in implementing the EAB IPM program.
Works with Regional Entomologist and higher-level Agricultural Inspectors determine location and extent of insect damage to wooded areas by visual inspection and mapping damage on the ground and entering it into GIS.
Works as part of team on tree mortality surveys needed to evaluate economic loss related to spongy moth defoliation, following FPM protocol.
Learns to evaluate the level and extent of hemlock woolly adelgid populations in priority stands following FPM protocol and conducts sampling survey.
Inspects/establishes survey/sampling locations in various forest habitats as required for forest health monitoring projects (insects/plants/diseases) following project protocols.
Responsible for coordinating with the Western region entomologist to complete yearly red bay ambrosia beetle trapping and laurel wilt permanent plots within the region.
Assists other Unit 14 sections in survey or control programs as needed, following established protocols and procedures.
Provides information as requested to regional entomologist on locations suitable for conducting various forest pest surveys/projects, using firsthand knowledge from field observations.
Answers question on spongy moth, the MDA spongy moth program and other forest insects and diseases to help the public understand pest life cycle and control methods utilizing MDA, Extension and US Forest Service publications and firsthand information and provides appropriate contact information.
Attends appropriate training events and/or webinars to gain knowledge of biology, identification, and control strategies of various forest pests.