Vegetation Control Service, Inc.

Vegetation Control Service, Inc., based in Athol, Massachusetts, provides herbicide application, brush cutting, tree trimming, and invasive species removal services to federal water resource and natural resource management agencies exclusively as a prime contractor under total small business set-asides. The firm operates across 259 awards spanning multiple decades, with over 54 years of operational history in vegetation management for federal projects across the Northeast.

Vegetation Control Service's customer concentration is extreme. The Department of the Army Corps of Engineers Engineering District New England accounts for 203 awards (78% of the total award count) and $5.1 million in combined potential value (65% of total dollars). The top five customer agencies represent 94% of all awards. The Department of Agriculture Forest Service R9-Eastern Region ranks second with 18 awards and $1.4 million combined potential value, followed by the Corps of Engineers (separate from the New England District) with 11 awards and $336 thousand, the Department of the Army Installation Management Command Northeast Region with 4 awards and $333 thousand, and the Department of the Interior Fish and Wildlife Service Region 5 with 8 awards and $131 thousand. Work is geographically concentrated in the Northeast — primarily Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont — supporting dam maintenance, lake management, and invasive species control at Corps of Engineers facilities and Forest Service sites.

Vegetation Control Service holds five active BPA vehicles with the Corps of Engineers New England District, all with ceiling values near $250 thousand. The highest-volume vehicles are Blanket Purchase Agreement W912WJ11A0009 (26 task orders, $244 thousand), W912WJ15A0006 (22 task orders, $244 thousand), and W912WJ15A0011 (22 task orders, $239 thousand). These BPAs enable the Corps to issue repeated task orders for specific dam and lake spraying locations. Representative work includes a June 2026 call for $13,973.86 at Union Village Dam in East Thetford, Vermont (completion September 2026), a June 2025 call for $13,225.94 at North Hartland Lake (completion September 2025), a May 2024 purchase order for $14,700 from Fish and Wildlife Service Region 5 for herbicide application at the Massachusetts Eastern National Wildlife Refuge Complex, and recurring seasonal calls for chemical vegetation control at Knightville Dam, Ball Mountain Lake, and Franklin Falls Dam across Massachusetts and New Hampshire averaging $10 thousand to $20 thousand per task order.

Activity has contracted sharply. The firm executed four awards in 2022, six in 2023, four in 2024, two in 2025, and one in 2026, reflecting a declining trajectory. Combined potential value across all 259 awards stands at $7.9 million, with $3.2 million obligated (41% of potential). Only one award faces ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months (combined potential value $14 thousand), suggesting minimal near-term recompete exposure but also indicating that most current BPA vehicles are inactive or nearing natural expiration. Primary NAICS concentration is 561730 (Landscaping Services), which accounts for 216 of the 259 awards. Vegetation Control Service operates exclusively as a prime contractor with no subcontract activity and competes in the total small business set-aside category across all work.