I don't know about your USFS job, but I would imagine forest firefighting is out with a blown disc. They must have lighter-duty gigs, like dispatching, shuttle driving, or something like that.
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Ouch.
I blew L5-S1 disc in June, 2012. I did P.T. narco dope, acupuncture, chiro, ESI (epidural steroid injection) for a year. Docs said leg pain, numbness, weakness, etc. down to foot often ends...