Michelle Bahr

Michelle Bahr serves as a key procurement professional within the U.S. Forest Service’s CSA Southwest 5 office, managing critical contracts that support the sustainable stewardship of national forest infrastructure in the Southwest. Her responsibilities include planning, soliciting, and awarding acquisitions for essential civil engineering, facility maintenance, and environmental services that ensure public safety and ecological resilience. She specializes in high-priority projects involving trail and road rehabilitation, water system upgrades, and forest health interventions, aligning procurement actions with the agency’s mission of long-term land management and resource protection. Bahr maintains consistent working relationships with a core group of regional contractors, including American Classic Construction Inc., Southwest Research LLC, and Phoenix Contracting LLC, all of which provide specialized expertise in heavy civil construction and environmental compliance. Her procurement approach emphasizes collaboration with vendors possessing proven experience in remote-site operations, hazardous material handling, and federally regulated forest service environments. These partnerships are characterized by repeat engagements and a focus on performance-based outcomes rather than transactional transactions. She demonstrates an unwavering commitment to small business participation, directing 100% of her procurements under the Total Small Business Set-Aside authority per FAR 19.5. This reflects a strategic emphasis on empowering locally based, independently owned firms with the capacity to execute complex, field-based infrastructure work. Her contracting patterns consistently prioritize small business eligibility and socioeconomic inclusion, fostering regional economic development alongside environmental goals. Her primary technical focus lies in NAICS 237310 (Highway, Street, and Bridge Construction) and 237990 (Other Heavy and Civil Engineering Construction), with significant activity in plumbing, heating, and air-conditioning systems (238220). She routinely procures services related to erosion control, culvert installation, trail surfacing, and water infrastructure maintenance—domains requiring deep familiarity with federal environmental standards and wilderness operational constraints.