Carol Young

Carol Young serves as a Forest Silviculturist within the USDA Forest Service’s Incident Procurement unit, where she plays a critical technical role in shaping acquisition strategies for wildland fire and all-hazard response operations. Her expertise in forest management practices directly informs the procurement of specialized silvicultural and operational support services essential to incident management teams. She evaluates and recommends contracts for services such as fuel reduction, prescribed burning, post-fire reforestation, and vegetation management—ensuring that acquired resources align with ecological restoration goals and incident response timelines. Her role bridges technical forestry knowledge with acquisition planning, ensuring that contracted work meets both operational urgency and long-term forest health objectives. While specific contractor names are not disclosed, Young consistently collaborates with a network of qualified small businesses specializing in forestry support activities, including vegetation control, equipment mobilization, and ecological monitoring. Her working relationships are characterized by long-term trust, technical alignment, and a preference for vendors with demonstrated field experience in national forest environments. She actively engages with contractors to ensure compliance with environmental standards and incident-specific performance metrics, fostering partnerships that prioritize both speed and sustainability. Young maintains a 100% Small Business Set-Aside preference under FAR 19.5, reflecting a strong institutional commitment to socioeconomic contracting. All acquisitions under her purview are reserved exclusively for small businesses, with particular emphasis on firms certified under 8(a), HUBZone, and Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) programs. This pattern underscores her dedication to expanding economic opportunity within rural and forest-dependent communities while building a resilient, locally knowledgeable vendor base. Her procurement focus is exclusively on NAICS 115310—Support Activities for Forestry—encompassing services such as tree planting, site preparation, invasive species control, and wildfire rehabilitation. She specializes in contracting for technical forestry services that require certified professionals with field experience in silviculture, forest ecology, and incident response logistics, ensuring that all acquisitions are grounded in sound ecological science and operational readiness.