Forest Service Revises Solicitation For Helicopter Wildfire Support In Light Of Protest

The Forest Service recently cancelled a solicitation for helicopter wildfire support and agreed to review its documentation justifying its proposed evaluation method in light of a protest filed at the Government Accountability Office (GAO).   The protester alleged that the Forest Service had incorrectly chosen the lowest price, technically acceptable evaluation process as an appropriate method to select helicopter support services for fighting wildfires.  The protester argued that an evaluation method that assumed all services were the same was not in the best interest of the government or public “where the purpose of the Solicitation is to procure helicopter support to fight wildland fires on our national forests and parks and minimize as much as possible the impacts of these fires on natural resources, structures, and public safety.”  In response to the protest, the Forest Service voluntarily withdrew the solicitation so that it could review and revise its analysis as to the appropriate method for evaluating bids and reissue a new solicitation.