Region 1 - Northern Region

The Department of Agriculture Forest Service R1-Northern Region is a civilian sub-agency administering federal contracts and grants for forest management, restoration, and resource stewardship across the Northern Region (Montana, Idaho, North Dakota, and adjacent areas). The Northern Region procures contracts for forest operations, maintenance, firefighting support, and related services, and funds grants to state natural-resources departments, tribal entities, and research institutions for forest-health and wildfire-mitigation work.

The Northern Region has awarded 28,725 federal contracts since 2001, with a combined potential value of $1.57 billion and $1.46 billion in combined dollars obligated (93% of potential). Award volume over the last five years has remained steady: 1,787 awards in 2023, 1,751 in 2024, 1,617 in 2025, 1,585 in 2026, and 13 recorded so far in 2027. The prime-contractor base is highly fragmented—4,640 distinct contractors have been awarded—with the top five primes by award count (Outback Firefighting, Brown Septic, GPC Consolidated Reporting, Sprout Forestry Incorporated, and Tammy's Alliance) accounting for only 6 percent of recent awards. When ranked by combined potential value, Price Contracting Inc. leads with $20.3 million across 41 awards, followed by Sprout Forestry at $8.7 million, but the top five by value represent only 3 percent of recent combined potential value. This extreme fragmentation reflects the nature of regional forest-service work: many small maintenance, repair, and operational contracts spread across numerous local and regional contractors.

Set-asides skew heavily toward unrestricted awards—65 percent of contracts carry no set-aside designation. Small-business set-asides account for 30 percent of awards; HUBZone and 8(a) sole-source combined account for 3 percent. Woman-owned, service-disabled veteran-owned, and economically disadvantaged small-business set-asides each represent less than 1 percent of the portfolio.

The Northern Region has awarded 424 federal grants since 2013, obligating $517.9 million in federal dollars (with an additional $253.1 million in non-federal co-funding, bringing total obligations to $771 million). Grant awards have averaged 47 to 80 per year over the last five years: 47 in 2022, 80 in 2023, 62 in 2024, 55 in 2025, and 30 through August 2026. The grant recipient base is highly concentrated—five recipients account for 57 percent of recent awards by count and 65 percent of federal dollars by value. Idaho Department Of Lands leads with $141.8 million federal dollars across 46 awards; Fish Wildlife & Parks Montana Department follows with $82.4 million across 12 awards; Montana Department Of Natural Resources & Conservation has received $69.5 million across 55 awards; the Nez Perce Tribe has received $26.8 million across 8 awards; and North Dakota State University has received $16.8 million across 30 awards. Grants are predominantly Project Grants (89 percent of awards) with a smaller share of Cooperative Agreements (11 percent).

A recent contract opportunity (solicitation 1240LU26Q0125, due November 12, 2026) seeks Total Small Business set-aside bids for Fernan Ranger Station lift-station electrical repair, estimated under $25,000.