Michelle Bahr

Michelle Bahr serves as a key procurement lead within the U.S. Forest Service’s Region 3 Southwestern Regional Office, overseeing the acquisition of critical civil infrastructure and environmental services essential to public land stewardship. She manages a diverse portfolio of contracts focused on maintaining and enhancing forest infrastructure, including trail and road systems, water and sewer utilities, and visitor facilities. Her role ensures alignment with the agency’s mission of sustainable resource management through compliant, efficient, and mission-driven contracting practices, primarily utilizing competitive sealed bidding and negotiated procurements under the Federal Acquisition Regulation. Bahr maintains a consistent working relationship with GERMRIP LLC, a primary contractor delivering specialized civil works and heavy construction services across the region. Her procurement patterns reflect long-term vendor partnerships built on technical proficiency in infrastructure resilience, with a preference for contractors demonstrating proven experience in remote-site construction, environmental compliance, and erosion control. These relationships are characterized by repeat engagements and performance-based contract administration, ensuring continuity in high-priority asset maintenance. Her contracting approach is heavily oriented toward small business participation, with 96.8% of awards structured as total small business set-asides under FAR 19.5. This reflects a strong institutional commitment to fostering economic opportunity among small, locally based firms, particularly those certified under HUBZone, SDB, and SDVOSB programs. Bahr actively prioritizes socioeconomic goals, ensuring small businesses are not only eligible but competitively positioned to deliver mission-critical services. Her technical focus centers on NAICS codes 237310 (Highway, Street, and Bridge Construction), 238990 (All Other Specialty Trade Contractors), and 237990 (Other Heavy and Civil Engineering Construction), with significant activity in plumbing, heating, and air-conditioning systems (238220) and crushed stone procurement (212319). She specializes in acquiring services that support durable, environmentally compliant infrastructure in sensitive wildland-urban interface areas, requiring expertise in ecological mitigation, stormwater management, and low-impact construction techniques.