Jacob Sommerset

Jacob Sommerset serves as a key procurement professional within the Stewardship Contracting Branch of the U.S. Forest Service, overseeing the execution of landscape-scale stewardship contracts designed to advance ecological restoration and wildfire risk reduction. His work directly supports the agency’s mission to integrate timber harvesting with watershed protection, habitat improvement, and infrastructure maintenance through performance-based acquisitions. Sommerset specializes in managing complex, multi-objective contracts under the Stewardship Contracting authority, ensuring that procurement actions align with ecological outcomes and long-term forest resilience goals. He routinely handles solicitations and award actions for services requiring technical expertise in forest management, fuel reduction, and silvicultural practices. Sommerset maintains consistent working relationships with a core group of experienced contractors, including Brink Brothers Inc., Peak Engineering LLC, AZ Hammer Down, LLC, Gabino D. Grano, and Gladhart LLC. These partners are selected for their proven capacity to deliver integrated forest restoration services, including mechanical thinning, prescribed burning support, road decommissioning, and erosion control. His contracting patterns reflect a preference for established, technically capable vendors with demonstrated success in federal forest environments, fostering long-term, trust-based partnerships grounded in performance accountability and ecological compliance. Sommerset’s procurement strategy exhibits no reliance on socioeconomic set-asides, with 100% of awards issued under full and open competition. This reflects a mission-driven emphasis on technical competency and operational readiness over socioeconomic classifications, prioritizing the ability to execute complex, landscape-level projects efficiently and at scale. While small business participation is not formally targeted, contractors of all sizes are evaluated solely on their capacity to meet rigorous ecological and safety standards. His primary focus is on NAICS 115310—Support Activities for Forestry—encompassing a broad range of services including forest inventory, fuel management, trail maintenance, and post-harvest restoration. Sommerset’s expertise lies in procuring specialized ecological services that require field-level knowledge of silviculture, wildlife habitat enhancement, and federal environmental compliance frameworks such as NEPA and the National Forest Management Act.