Pros
The work was challenging and in my field. I worked for the Forest Service for 18 years and learned so much about forest ecology, emerging technology to monitor it, and made incredible contacts.
Cons
For 18 years I was considered "only part time" - a phrase that was actually used by HR. There is a hierarchy in the Forest Service, and perhaps all federal gov't - if you are not "permanent" then you don't count, and while you may get support from your direct supervisor, the higher-ups won't back you up. It sucked, knowing that the manager-of-the-day may decide that if quotas are low you should be pushed out no matter how much experience, dedication or time you put in (they claim not to have quotas but managers are rewarded for staff diversity, so effectively they do - and it's not as if they advocate for minorities in general because if a particular department has many women a white male could be considered a minority - I've seen it happen). Hiring can be decided by a person's last name because they aren't allowed to ask if someone is a minority in phone-interviews - I've seen this happen too (as our group hired seasonal temps we were literally told to hire people with certain last names). It's so impersonal I've heard of at least two cases where employees committed suicide after a dismissal that had nothing to do with their job performance, and at least one marriage that was on the rocks because one spouse was bitter about being laid off randomly while the other spouse was retained. It's a brutal hiring atmosphere. Really. Brutal.