Payette Powder Guides LLC

Payette Powder Guides LLC, a McCall, Idaho-based sole proprietorship and limited liability company, provides powder guiding services and vehicle-with-driver transportation support to the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service as a prime contractor under total small business set-asides. The vendor operates exclusively as a prime (100% of recent awards), with no subcontractor footprint, and competes entirely under set-aside vehicles in the small-business category.

Payette Powder Guides delivers specialized winter sports guiding and emergency transportation services focused on wildland fire suppression, all-hazard incident response, and Forest Service recreational programs across the Intermountain Region (Region 4), which spans Idaho, Nevada, Utah, and western Wyoming. Representative work includes a $45,118 delivery order from Forest Service Region 4 in August 2024 for powder guiding services supporting fire management activities, a $19,512 firm fixed-price delivery order issued August 2025 for transportation support in Boise under the National Interagency Fire Center's Virtual Incident Procurement (VIPR) program, and a $6,393 total small-business set-aside delivery order from the Forest Service awarded June 2026 for operations in Craigmont, Idaho. The vendor also holds two multiple-award Indefinite Delivery Contracts with the National Interagency Fire Center, each carrying a $250,000 ceiling and designated as total small business set-asides, running through May 2028 and covering vehicle-with-driver resources for Region 4 emergency operations.

Customer concentration is complete — all 22 awards since 2012 fund Forest Service operations under four sub-agencies, with the Department of Agriculture Forest Service Fire and Aviation Management National Interagency Fire Center leading by potential value ($781 thousand across five awards) and Forest Service Region 4 leading by award count (14 awards, $616 thousand combined potential value). The two rankings converge on Forest Service as the sole customer. Recent activity is flat at two awards per year for 2022–2026. All work falls under NAICS All Other Transit and Ground Passenger Transportation and PSC Natural Resources/Conservation (Forest-Range Fire Suppression/Presuppression), with 21 of 22 awards tagged to that PSC code. Combined potential value across the portfolio is $1.6 million, with $213 thousand obligated to date (14% of ceiling). Vehicle-with-driver task orders under the two IDCs account for the largest vehicle positions; the vendor also places work through three additional BPAs with Forest Service. Firm fixed-price structure dominates all awards.