Heather B McCollister

Heather B. McCollister serves as Supervisor of Real Estate Specialists – Leasing within the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Region 5 Pacific Southwest Region, overseeing the acquisition and management of nonresidential leasing contracts critical to the U.S. Forest Service’s operational infrastructure. In this role, she directs a team responsible for securing facility space to support field operations, ranger stations, visitor centers, and maintenance hubs across national forests and grasslands. Her procurement activities are central to enabling on-the-ground ecological stewardship, wildfire response, and public recreation services by ensuring timely access to mission-critical real estate assets. She manages the full lifecycle of lease acquisitions—from needs assessment and market research to contract award and performance monitoring—ensuring alignment with federal real property standards and agency sustainability goals. McCollister collaborates with a broad spectrum of commercial property owners and real estate brokers who specialize in long-term nonresidential leasing arrangements. Her working relationships are primarily with private landowners, commercial real estate firms, and regional property management companies that hold portfolios of office, warehouse, and mixed-use facilities suitable for federal use. She emphasizes transparent, competitive leasing processes and maintains consistent engagement with vendors to ensure compliance with federal leasing regulations and efficient space utilization. Her procurement portfolio reflects a 100% preference for non-set-aside contracts, indicating a focus on broad market competition rather than socioeconomic set-asides. While she does not prioritize 8(a), HUBZone, or SDVOSB set-asides, her approach ensures maximum value through open competition among qualified lessors, aligning with the agency’s need for reliable, scalable, and geographically diverse facilities. McCollister’s primary procurement focus is on NAICS 531120—Lessors of Nonresidential Buildings (except Miniwarehouses)—reflecting her specialization in leasing office, administrative, and operational facilities. She procures space for field offices, equipment storage, visitor services, and emergency response coordination, requiring deep familiarity with federal real property policies, lease negotiation standards, and facility compatibility with remote, high-use forest environments. Her expertise lies in securing functional, code-compliant spaces that support both mission continuity and public access across the Pacific Southwest’s complex terrain.