Combined Synopsis/Solicitation
Market Index Prices for Use in Forest Management
Department of Agriculture · Forest Service
More open Forest Service contracts
AI summaryThe USDA Forest Service wants one company to publish monthly and quarterly lumber price indexes for seven western lumber species groups, which the agency uses to adjust the prices it charges for standing timber (stumpage) on timber sale contracts. The contract is a firm-fixed-price (FFP: one set price for the work) requirements contract of one base year plus four one-year options, up to five years in all, and work is done at the contractor's own facility or remote office. No set-aside is used, and offers are due November 2, 2026, 2:00 PM Eastern. More in the summary
AI summary Beta
The USDA Forest Service wants one company to publish monthly and quarterly lumber price indexes for seven western lumber species groups, which the agency uses to adjust the prices it charges for standing timber (stumpage) on timber sale contracts. The contract is a firm-fixed-price (FFP: one set price for the work) requirements contract of one base year plus four one-year options, up to five years in all, and work is done at the contractor's own facility or remote office. No set-aside is used, and offers are due November 2, 2026, 2:00 PM Eastern.
Who can bid
- Active registration in the System for Award Management (SAM), with current representations and certifications
How to submit: Email to cassandra.carey@usda.gov with a copy to kimberly.turner@usda.gov; the subject line must start with 'Proposal submission' followed by the solicitation number and name. What to include is under Full summary below. Check the solicitation's instructions on SAM.gov.
Things to watch (8)
From the version posted Oct 14, 2026.
- Serious: You must build the data system and method yourself. The contractor builds its own data collection, quality checks and index-log method; the Forest Service says it expects the method to be developed independently. A strict accuracy target applies if you sample prices, and index logs must be rebuilt through a 2029 survey.
- Worth checking: Base year dates differ between documents. The cover form (SF 1449) shows November 16, 2026 to November 15, 2027, while the schedule of items shows November 1, 2026 to October 31, 2027 and says actual dates depend on award. The first monthly index is due beginning November 10, 2026, so ask the contracting officer which dates govern.
- Worth checking: Past performance minimum length conflicts. The submission instructions accept contracts with a performance period of at least six months, but the evaluation counts only contracts with at least one year of performance history as recent. Ask the contracting officer which applies before choosing which contracts to list.
Show all 8Show fewer
- Worth checking: Government owns all data and can share it across USDA. All deliverables are Government property and cannot be retained or reproduced by the contractor, and the agency can share the price information across USDA without restriction. A business that sells its price data to others should check whether this fits its model.
- Worth checking: One award; price all items for all years. Offers must price the base year and every option year, one award is planned, and the Government may judge option prices unbalanced and reject an offer.
- Worth checking: Subcontracting plan required if you use subcontractors. If a prime contractor uses subcontractors, a subcontracting plan under FAR 52.219-9 must be negotiated, and failing to do so makes the offeror ineligible. In a posted answer, the agency said the limitations-on-subcontracting clause (FAR 52.219-14) applies only if the award goes to a socioeconomic-group vendor and will otherwise be removed at award.
- Worth checking: Anti-discrimination and DEI certification is a condition of payment. By accepting the contract you certify compliance with the clause's terms for yourself, subcontractors and teaming partners, and a knowingly false statement can lead to False Claims Act liability.
- Minor: Year typo in the quarterly index list. The first-year quarterly indices list a quarter ending 'September 2017' among 2026 and 2027 dates, which is probably a typo for 2027; ask the contracting officer to confirm.
Read from the notice and 2 attachments. Show which files.
- 12318726Q0224 - Market Index Prices.pdf (read)
- Market Index QA.pdf (read)
Full summary
What they want
- Publish two monthly lumber price indexes (Pacific Northwest Coast and Inland) covering seven species groups, based on the sales price of lumber shipped, and deliver them by the 10th of each month starting November 10, 2026
- Publish quarterly averages of the monthly prices for quarters ending March, June, September and December, sent with the monthly releases starting January 1, 2027
- Deliver the final method for updating the index log by January 1, 2027, to be finalized jointly by March 31, 2027
- Run a grade recovery survey in 2029 using at least 50 percent of the lumber volume produced for each species group from January 2027 through December 2028, and deliver one new index log per species group by January 1, 2030
- If sampling prices, keep sampling error to no more than 5 percent of the index value at the 95 percent confidence level
- After award: kick-off meeting within 10 days with minutes, a transition plan 4 weeks before the contract ends, a closeout non-disclosure certificate, and a subcontracting plan within 10 days if subcontracting
- Make all deliverables Section 508 accessible and scanned for viruses, and send them to the contracting officer (CO), the contracting officer's representative (COR) and the technical point of contact (TPOC)
- Contract type
- Firm-fixed-price requirements contract; the Government intends one award
- Period of performance
- 1 base year plus 4 one-year option years (up to 5 years in all); the services-extension clause (FAR 52.217-8) allows up to 6 more months. Base year dates differ between the cover form and the schedule (see red flags)
- Place of performance
- Contractor's facility or remote office with network and Internet connections; a Forest Service office or location only if needed to troubleshoot government property
- Estimated value
- Not stated
- How they'll choose
- Best value: price and non-price factors considered; technical capability/approach and past performance combined are more important than price
- Offers due
- November 2, 2026, 2:00 PM Eastern
- How to submit
- Email to cassandra.carey@usda.gov with a copy to kimberly.turner@usda.gov; the subject line must start with 'Proposal submission' followed by the solicitation number and name
- Page limits
- Past performance: 2 pages per contract; Price volume: no page limit; no limit is stated for the technical volume
What they'll judge offers on
- Technical Capability/Approach: the Government's confidence and risk that the offeror will meet the statement of work, judged on the quality, reasonableness and understanding shown, including methods to meet schedules and goals
- Past Performance: recent (within the last three years, at least one year of performance) and relevant (similar size, scope and complexity) projects; no relevant record gets a neutral rating
- Price: total of the base period plus all option years, plus 6 months added at Option Year 4 rates for evaluation only; prices are checked for fairness and reasonableness, and unbalanced option prices can make an offer unacceptable
What to include when you submit
- Send the technical volume (Volume I) and price volume (Volume II) as separate Word or similar files that open in current Microsoft Office; late offers are returned unopened
- Volume I must describe your technical capabilities, give an overall strategy to meet all requirements and deliverables, and list any assumptions your performance depends on
- Volume I must include past performance for a maximum of three similar contracts completed or begun in the past three years, each with a performance period of no less than six months
- For each past performance entry give: contract name and number, total value and completion date (or stage if ongoing), government point of contact with name, address, email and phone, any subcontractor or prime you worked with, project location, and whether it finished on time
- Include the names and resumes of key personnel with the technical proposal
- Write any exceptions to the solicitation's technical terms in Volume I
- Price every item for the base year and all four option years (fully burdened) in Volume II; offers missing prices for any item are not responsive
- Format: 8.5 x 11 inch pages, single-spaced, 1 inch margins, type no smaller than 11-point, page numbers throughout, and no hyperlinks
- Hold prices firm for 90 calendar days after the offer due date
- Complete the offeror representations and certifications (FAR 52.212-3) unless they are current in SAM
After award, you must have
- Employees and contractors need current and valid professional certifications before starting work From 12318726Q0224 - Market Index Prices.pdf:
The Contractor must ensure employees and contractors have current and valid professional certifications before starting work under this contract.
Current contractor
Western Wood Products Association holds contract 12318721C0012, awarded September 24, 2021, with a not-to-exceed value of $1,559,708.00 (the value of that earlier contract, not this one). The answers to bidder questions point to the solicitation's incumbent table when asked about an incumbent. No Government estimate for this contract is given.
Not in the notice text
- The Government's estimate or budget for this contract is not stated
- What changed between the September 28, 2026 posting and this October 14, 2026 version is not described in the documents read
- The Forest Service's existing index-log structure and historical documentation may be shared with the winner only after it reviews them for proprietary information
Eligibility and how to respond
- No set-aside: any business, large or small, can bid unless the notice says otherwise.
- How to submit, from the AI summary: Email to cassandra.carey@usda.gov with a copy to kimberly.turner@usda.gov; the subject line must start with 'Proposal submission' followed by the solicitation number and name. Check it in the notice before you send anything.
- Service contracts usually set minimum pay rates (the Service Contract Act). Price the labor with the SCA price calculator.
Notice details
- Posted
- Oct 14, 2026
- Notice type
- Combined Synopsis/Solicitation
- Office
- USDA Forest Service, Washington, DC
- Product/service code
- R702 · Support – Management: Data Collection
- Business type
- Environmental & natural resources (FedReady's grouping, from NAICS 115310)
- Versions
2 versions have been posted, newest first.
- Oct 14, 2026 · Amendment 0001 (this version)Due Nov 2, 2026
- Sep 28, 2026 · Combined Synopsis/SolicitationDue Nov 2, 2026
- Attachments
Past awards and competition
Who has won work like this before, the likely incumbent, and what similar contracts paid, from USAspending.gov.
Before you respond
- How to respond to a solicitation (8 steps)
- How to read a government solicitation
- How to price a government contract
Terms on this notice: Solicitation
Full notice text from SAM.gov
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Forest Service requires the need to purchase market index price data to be used to achieve fair, objective, and transparent valuation and pricing measures for Forest Service stumpage as provided herein. Product or Service Code (PSC): R702 – Support-Management: Data Collection. NAICS: 115310 - Support Activities for Forestry.
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