Cynthia Horwitz

Cynthia Horwitz serves as a primary procurement lead within the Stewardship Contracting Branch of the U.S. Forest Service, where she facilitates landscape-scale stewardship contracts designed to advance ecological restoration and wildfire risk reduction. Her role centers on structuring and managing complex, performance-based acquisitions that integrate timber harvesting with watershed protection, trail maintenance, and infrastructure upgrades. She specializes in multi-objective contracting vehicles that align with the Forest Service’s mission of sustainable forest management, ensuring compliance with federal stewardship contracting authorities under Title 16 U.S.C. § 2113. Her acquisitions typically combine resource extraction with ecological services, requiring careful balancing of environmental outcomes and operational feasibility. Horwitz maintains consistent working relationships with a core group of specialized contractors, including Brink Brothers Inc., Peak Engineering LLC, Miller Timber Services, Inc., Az Hammer Down, LLC, and Dennis Kirby. These partnerships reflect a preference for firms with demonstrated expertise in forest operations, heavy equipment mobilization, and ecological restoration techniques. Her contracting patterns emphasize long-term collaboration with vendors who possess on-the-ground experience in remote, ecologically sensitive areas, fostering reliable, mission-aligned performance through repeat engagements and performance-based incentives. A strong commitment to small business participation defines her procurement approach, with over 90% of her acquisitions structured as total small business set-asides under FAR 19.5. This reflects a deliberate strategy to empower locally rooted, capacity-building contractors in rural communities. While 8(a) competed awards account for a small but meaningful portion of her portfolio, her primary focus remains on broad-based small business inclusion, supporting economic resilience in forest-dependent regions. Her procurement activity is heavily concentrated in NAICS 115310 (Support Activities for Forestry), reflecting deep expertise in forest thinning, fuel reduction, and silvicultural services. Secondary focus areas include highway and bridge construction (237310) and specialized infrastructure work such as plumbing and HVAC (238220), all aligned with restoring forest access and public safety. Her technical domain expertise lies in integrating ecological outcomes with operational logistics through innovative, results-driven contracting mechanisms.