Karie Linn

Karie Linn serves as a key procurement specialist within the USDA Forest Service’s Incident Procurement unit, responsible for rapidly acquiring critical logistical and operational resources to support wildland fire response and all-hazard incident management. Her role ensures that incident command teams have immediate access to essential services such as mobile command units, temporary housing, water systems, and heavy equipment through time-sensitive, mission-critical acquisitions. She operates within the Federal Acquisition Regulation framework to expedite contracting under emergency authorities, often leveraging simplified acquisition procedures and contingent contracting mechanisms to meet dynamic operational demands across national forests and grasslands. While specific contractor names are not publicly available, Karie consistently engages a diverse pool of vendors specializing in incident support services, including small businesses certified under 8(a), HUBZone, and SDVOSB programs. Her procurement approach emphasizes agility and reliability, fostering long-term vendor partnerships that can mobilize rapidly in high-stress environments. She prioritizes vendors with proven experience in field deployment, equipment maintenance, and incident logistics, ensuring contractors can deliver under austere conditions with minimal lead time. Karie demonstrates a strong commitment to socioeconomic contracting, with 80% of her acquisitions structured as total small business set-asides under FAR 19.5. This reflects a deliberate strategy to maximize participation from small, disadvantaged, and geographically targeted firms capable of delivering essential services in remote or disaster-affected areas. Her contracting patterns consistently favor small business participation over open competitions, reinforcing the agency’s mission to build resilient, community-based supply chains for emergency response. Her primary procurement focus lies in NAICS 541370 (Surveying and Mapping Services), supporting incident mapping, burn perimeter analysis, and terrain assessment, alongside NAICS 237310 (Highway, Street, and Bridge Construction) for firebreak development, access road repair, and infrastructure restoration. Her technical expertise centers on geospatial data collection, emergency civil works, and rapid-response infrastructure, ensuring acquisitions align with incident management needs in complex wildland-urban interfaces.