Sanders County

Sanders County, a U.S. local government entity based in Thompson Falls, Montana, receives federal grants and contracts as a prime recipient and subrecipient to support natural resource management, airport infrastructure, domestic violence prosecution, and social services delivery across rural Montana. The county operates as a grant recipient rather than a competitive federal contractor; it holds no federal contract vehicles and does not compete on open procurement.

Sanders County's federal footprint is heavily skewed toward aviation infrastructure and forestry support. The Federal Aviation Administration's Northwest Mountain Region dominates the award count with 28 awards across multiple grant programs (CFDA 20.106, 20.116, 20.117), funding pavement maintenance, terminal construction, fuel farm development, and navigational aids at airports serving Thompson Falls and Plains, Montana. The Department of Agriculture's Forest Service, Region 1 (Northern Region) has awarded 13 contracts and grants worth $419 thousand combined potential value, primarily for land use agreements and helibase operations at Thompson Falls and Plains airports to support incident response and natural resource management. Sanders County also holds two single-award Indefinite Delivery Contracts with the Forest Service (ceiling values of $250 thousand and $100 thousand respectively) for moratorium-exception land use agreements and seat-base operations through December 2030. A $3,150 delivery order under the larger IDC delivered unspecified services to support the Forest Service's incident response and helicopter basing needs by September 2023.

Beyond aviation and forestry, Sanders County acts as prime recipient on a $499 thousand multi-year grant from the Department of Justice Office on Violence Against Women (CFDA 16.590) running May 2026 through April 2029 to expand the Sanders County Attorneys Office's capacity to investigate and prosecute domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking cases. The county serves as a subrecipient on grants flowing from the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services for the WIC program (Women, Infants, and Children nutrition assistance), Public Health Emergency Preparedness (PHEP), and immunization services; it also subrecipients funding from the Sanders County Coalition For Families for a full-time domestic violence and sexual assault detective position within the county sheriff's office, and from the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation for a county-wide wildfire prevention and modernization plan update.

Combined potential value across 82 total awards (62 prime, 20 sub) stands at $617 thousand, though obligated dollars total $13 million — a product of the formula-grant and Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act funding structure, where earlier tranches of appropriated dollars have been obligated to multi-year airport projects. The 19 distinct customer agencies reflect the rural-infrastructure focus: FAA predominates by volume, the Forest Service by dollar concentration in the prime footprint, and state pass-through grants dominate the sub-recipient work. Activity has remained modest and stable — 4 to 7 awards per year over the past five years — with only one award facing ultimate completion in the next twenty-four months. Sanders County's category concentration reflects its mission: support activities for forestry (9 awards), airport operations (4 awards), and facilities support services (3 awards) anchor the NAICS profile, while natural resources and forestry fire suppression and housekeeping-guard services dominate the PSC distribution.