Ariana Vargas

Ariana Vargas serves as a Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) for the U.S. Forest Service’s CSA Southwest 2 unit, supporting the sustainable management of national forest systems across the Southwest. In this role, she provides critical oversight of procurement actions related to forest health, reforestation, and ecological infrastructure, ensuring compliance with federal acquisition regulations and mission-aligned outcomes. Her responsibilities include monitoring contract performance, evaluating technical deliverables, and facilitating communication between contractors and agency personnel. She primarily handles service-based acquisitions under the Support Activities for Forestry NAICS code, focusing on field operations, nursery propagation, and environmental restoration services in remote and ecologically sensitive areas. Vargas maintains consistent working relationships with a core group of contractors specializing in forestry support services, including Raymond Romine, Shane Killian Construction, Cranmer Engineering, Inc., R & R Contracting Inc., and Neils Controlled Blasting LP. These vendors are frequently engaged for site-specific tasks such as erosion control, controlled burning, trail maintenance, and native plant establishment. Her procurement approach emphasizes reliability, technical proficiency, and adherence to ecological best practices, fostering long-term partnerships built on performance accountability and regulatory compliance. She demonstrates a strong, consistent commitment to small business participation, with 100% of her acquisitions structured as total small business set-asides under FAR 19.5. This reflects a deliberate strategy to prioritize locally owned, capacity-building enterprises that contribute to regional economic resilience and workforce development in rural communities. Her contracting patterns align with USDA’s broader goals of empowering small businesses to deliver mission-critical environmental services. Her technical domain is narrowly focused on NAICS 115310—Support Activities for Forestry—encompassing nursery operations, native plant propagation, forest thinning, fuel reduction, and post-fire rehabilitation. She procures specialized services requiring ecological expertise, equipment operation in sensitive habitats, and compliance with NEPA and Endangered Species Act requirements, demonstrating deep familiarity with the operational realities of federal land management.