Darla J. Erickson

Darla J. Erickson serves as a Procurement Technician within the USDA Forest Service, supporting the agency’s mission to sustain forest and grassland ecosystems through strategic acquisition of critical services and infrastructure support. In her role, she facilitates the execution of procurement actions for operational needs ranging from ecological restoration to emergency response capabilities in remote terrains. She manages a diverse portfolio of contracts under the Federal Acquisition Regulation, with a focus on service-based acquisitions that enable field operations, workforce mobilization, and resource management. Her work ensures timely and compliant procurement of specialized support activities essential to maintaining forest health, wildfire mitigation, and public safety across federal lands. Erickson maintains consistent working relationships with a select group of contractors, including ACI FEDERAL INC, ONE STOP RECRUITING LLC, GONDO ROY E MD, THE LOCUMS CO, LLC, and AMD INTERNATIONAL TECHNOLOGIES LLC. These partnerships reflect a blend of specialized forestry support, workforce staffing, medical services for field personnel, and technology integration. Her procurement patterns emphasize reliability, regulatory compliance, and responsiveness to dynamic operational demands, often requiring rapid mobilization of qualified personnel and technical services in austere environments. A strong advocate for small business participation, Erickson consistently prioritizes Total Small Business Set-Asides under FAR 19.5, with 86.7% of her acquisitions reserved for small businesses. She also actively utilizes HUBZone set-asides, demonstrating a deliberate commitment to economic development in historically underserved rural communities. Her contracting patterns align with federal socioeconomic goals, fostering equitable access to federal opportunities while enhancing workforce diversity and local economic resilience. Her procurement focus is centered on NAICS 115310 (Support Activities for Forestry), which accounts for nearly two-thirds of her portfolio, encompassing contract services such as vegetation management, fuel reduction, and ecological monitoring. Additional focus areas include highway and site preparation contracting (NAICS 237310 and 238910), forest product gathering (113210), and nonscheduled air transport (481212), reflecting the unique logistical and environmental challenges of managing federal lands.