Melissa Swain

Melissa Swain serves as a Recreation Technician with the Umpqua National Forest, part of the U.S. Forest Service under the Department of Agriculture. In this role, she supports the agency’s mission of maintaining public recreation infrastructure and sustaining healthy forest ecosystems through hands-on land management activities. Her procurement responsibilities center on acquiring services essential to trail maintenance, visitor facility upkeep, and vegetation management, ensuring compliance with environmental standards and public safety protocols. She typically handles task orders and interagency agreements for janitorial, groundskeeping, and light construction services that support day-to-day operations across forest recreation sites, working closely with field staff to align contracting needs with operational priorities. Melissa collaborates consistently with a core group of regional contractors including G E Forestry, Inc., Green Hills Forestry LLC, Three Stripes Contracting LLC, and Umpqua Valley Forestry, Inc. These vendors provide specialized services in trail rehabilitation, debris removal, facility cleaning, and minor infrastructure repairs tailored to the unique demands of forested public lands. Her working relationships are characterized by long-term trust, performance-based evaluations, and a preference for local, experienced firms familiar with the ecological and topographical constraints of the Umpqua region. She prioritizes reliability, environmental stewardship, and timely delivery in vendor selection. Melissa’s contracting activity shows a 100% preference for open, non-set-aside procurements, indicating a focus on competitive bidding based on technical capability and cost-effectiveness rather than socioeconomic preferences. While she does not formally prioritize 8(a), HUBZone, or SDVOSB set-asides, her reliance on regional contractors often results in natural small business participation due to the localized nature of the work and the limited pool of qualified providers in rural Oregon. Her primary procurement focus is under NAICS 561720 (Janitorial Services), which encompasses cleaning, waste removal, restroom maintenance, and facility sanitation at campgrounds, trailheads, and visitor centers. She has deep expertise in procuring services that meet USDA and FS sanitation standards, ensuring compliance with health codes and accessibility requirements across dispersed recreation areas. Her technical domain centers on low-impact, high-frequency operational support services critical to public land stewardship.