Matt Wynant

Matt Wynant serves as a Forester within the Stewardship Contracting Branch of the U.S. Forest Service, where he plays a pivotal role in advancing landscape-scale ecological restoration through strategic procurement. His responsibilities include designing, soliciting, and managing stewardship contracts that integrate timber harvesting with watershed protection, fuel reduction, and infrastructure maintenance. By aligning procurement activities with the agency’s mission to enhance forest resilience and reduce wildfire risk, Wynant ensures that contracting mechanisms support both ecological outcomes and sustainable resource use. He primarily handles complex, performance-based acquisitions under the Stewardship Contracting authority, emphasizing long-term partnerships and measurable ecological results over traditional commodity procurement. Wynant 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 vendors are recognized for their expertise in forest restoration, heavy equipment operations, and ecological site rehabilitation. His contracting approach favors firms with demonstrated technical capacity in silvicultural practices, road maintenance, and biomass utilization, fostering long-term, trust-based partnerships that prioritize execution quality and ecological compliance over short-term cost savings. Wynant’s procurement portfolio reflects a strong preference for open competition, with 100% of awards issued under no set-aside categories. While he does not routinely utilize socioeconomic set-asides such as 8(a), HUBZone, or SDVOSB programs, his contracting strategy prioritizes technical capability and proven performance in ecological restoration, ensuring that the most qualified firms—regardless of size or certification—are selected based on merit and mission alignment. His primary procurement focus is exclusively on NAICS 115310 (Support Activities for Forestry), encompassing services such as prescribed burning, brush management, snag removal, trail construction, and forest thinning. Wynant’s technical expertise lies in structuring performance-driven contracts that require adherence to environmental standards and adaptive management principles, ensuring that all contracted work directly contributes to the health and resilience of national forest ecosystems.