William Ray Eaton

William Ray Eaton, doing business as Eaton's True Grit Ranch, a sole proprietorship based in Dayton, Washington, provides heavy equipment rentals, trained operators, transportation, lodging, and personnel support for wildland fire suppression and all-hazard incident response as a prime contractor exclusively to the U.S. Forest Service and subordinate agencies under total small business set-asides. The vendor has been registered in SAM since 2004 and competes 100% as a prime (no subcontract activity in the source data) across a concentrated, regional customer base in the Pacific Northwest.

The vendor's customer base is heavily concentrated within the Department of Agriculture's Forest Service. The top two funding entities account for 97% of recent awards: the Forest Service Region 6–Pacific Northwest Region (21 awards, $1.2 million combined potential value) and the National Interagency Fire Center under Forest Service Fire and Aviation Management (6 awards, $2 million combined potential value). The Department of the Interior's Bureau of Land Management Idaho Region represents a single $79 thousand purchase order for an excavator. All but one award carries a total small business set-aside designation. Work is consistently placed against Indefinite Delivery Contracts established through the Virtual Incident Procurement (VIPR) system. The vendor holds multiple active IDCs: a $500 thousand IDC for miscellaneous heavy equipment, Region 6–Pacific Northwest only, through May 2029; a $500 thousand IDC for heavy equipment, West Zone Regions 5 and 6, through June 2028; a $250 thousand IDC for miscellaneous heavy equipment, Region 6, through May 2029; and a $250 thousand IDC for heavy equipment, West Zone Regions 5 and 6, through June 2028. Recent delivery orders range from $4,584 (September 2025, no set-aside) to $84,561 (September 2023, no set-aside), with performance locations spanning Colville, Vancouver, Medford, Corvallis, and Vale in Oregon and Washington. Representative work includes a $54,600 delivery order for logistical and equipment support in Pendleton, Oregon (July 2026, small business set-aside) and a $79,223 Type 2 excavator purchase for Boise, Idaho (June 2025, no set-aside).

Activity has grown modestly in recent years, from three awards annually in 2022–2023 to five awards in the first seven months of 2026. Combined potential value across all 31 prime awards totals $3.4 million, with $811 thousand obligated to date (24% of potential). The vendor's capability footprint is classified entirely under NAICS 541710 (Support Activities for Forestry) and PSC codes for forest-range fire suppression and presuppression. Work is restricted geographically to the Pacific Northwest region and adjacent fire zones, with no demonstrated activity in other geographic regions or federal mission areas.