Samish Communications LLC

Samish Communications LLC, a minority-owned and woman-owned small business based in Tumwater, Washington, provides mobile communications units and helicopter operations support equipment to the USDA Forest Service and interagency wildland fire response teams as a prime contractor under total small business set-asides. The company operates as a limited liability partnership and is registered in SAM.gov as a self-certified small disadvantaged business with Native American ownership and economically disadvantaged women-owned designations. All thirty of Samish's recent federal awards are prime contracts, with no subcontract footprint; the vendor competes exclusively under set-aside vehicles or full-and-open delivery orders against established indefinite delivery contracts.

Samish's capability portfolio centers on wildland fire incident support — specifically mobile communications units with certified personnel, materials, and transportation for 16-hour daily shifts across Forest Service regions, and helicopter operations support units for fire suppression, all-hazard response, and prescribed project work. Representative work includes a $500 thousand multiple-award indefinite delivery contract awarded by the National Interagency Fire Center on February 6, 2026, for mobile communications units covering USDA Forest Service Regions 1 through 6; a second $500 thousand multiple-award IDC awarded the same date for helicopter operations support units under the same geographic scope; and a $250 thousand VIPR Interagency Blanket Purchase Agreement for mobile communications units awarded May 13, 2024. Individual task orders against these vehicles range from $1,595 to $83 thousand. The company also holds a $250 thousand BPA for helicopter operations support issued May 10, 2024.

Customer concentration is extreme. The National Interagency Fire Center accounts for 21 of 30 awards (100% coverage across the top three customers) and $2.3 million of the combined $2.5 million potential value. The Forest Service Pacific Northwest Region (R6) holds seven awards worth $188 thousand, and the Bureau of Land Management Oregon-Washington two awards worth $27 thousand. The two customer rankings are identical — no tension between volume and dollars — reflecting Samish's narrow, specialized market. Place of performance spans Oregon and Washington (Wenatchee, Prineville, Bend, Medford, Roseburg, John Day, and other Forest Service incident locations), with administrative oversight from Tumwater. Samish placed task orders against five parent vehicles, with the highest concentration on IDC 12024B19T7048 (ten task orders, $169 thousand combined potential value) and BPA AG024BB147090 (six task orders, $127 thousand).

Activity has remained flat to modest — one award in 2021, four in 2024, four in 2026 — reflecting the seasonal and incident-driven nature of wildland fire contracts. Only $459 thousand (18% of the $2.5 million ceiling potential) has been obligated across all awards, typical of indefinite delivery contracts that carry high ceilings with actual draws tied to incident call-downs. Three awards present recompete exposure in the next twenty-four months.