Forest Service Cancels Campground Prospectus After Erroneously Listing It As A Small Business Set-Aside

The Forest Service recently decided to withdraw a prospectus for a campground permit after the agency had “mistakenly marked” the prospectus as a small business set-aside on SAM.gov.  The agency had not designated the prospectus as a small business set-aside on its own website nor indicated in any other location such a designation.  The Forest Service had completed its evaluation and selected as an intended awardee an entity that was not a small business.  A disappointed offeror then filed an appeal with the agency as well as a size protest with the Small Business Administration, which was subsequently dismissed.  In its response to the agency appeal, the responsible official stated:

The checking of the Small Business set aside in SAM.gov appears to have been an inadvertent administrative error, and the Forest regrets any confusion that may have been caused by this administrative error. However, the award was made on the criteria identified in the prospectus itself and not the posting information in SAM.gov.

The agency, however, subsequently decided to withdraw the prospectus and re-advertise it.