Nell Highfill

Nell Highfill serves as Recreation Manager for the USDA Forest Service, overseeing the planning, procurement, and execution of recreational infrastructure and operational support acquisitions across national forest lands. In this role, she ensures that public access, safety, and ecological sustainability are balanced through strategic contracting for facilities, signage, trail systems, and related amenities. Her procurement activities align with the agency’s mission to maintain resilient recreational infrastructure in remote and rugged terrain, often requiring specialized engineering and fabrication solutions. She manages a portfolio of contracts focused on construction-related services and fabricated components essential to visitor services and resource protection. Highfill maintains consistent partnerships with a select group of contractors, including ACI FEDERAL INC, ONE STOP RECRUITING LLC, GONDO ROY E MD, THE LOCUMS CO, LLC, and AMD INTERNATIONAL TECHNOLOGIES LLC. These relationships reflect a blend of specialized fabrication, staffing, and technical support services critical to maintaining operational continuity in field-based recreation programs. Her contracting approach emphasizes reliability, compliance with federal standards, and alignment with Forest Service safety protocols, fostering long-term vendor collaborations grounded in performance and regulatory adherence. She exhibits a strong and exclusive commitment to small business participation, directing 100% of her set-aside acquisitions to small businesses under FAR 19.5. This reflects a deliberate strategy to cultivate local economic resilience and enhance diversity in the supplier base serving federal recreational lands. Her procurement patterns consistently prioritize small business eligibility, ensuring equitable access to opportunities for firms capable of delivering specialized, mission-critical goods and services. Highfill’s primary procurement focus is on NAICS 332312, Fabricated Structural Metal Manufacturing, indicating a technical specialization in the acquisition of custom-fabricated metal structures such as trail bridges, guardrails, picnic shelters, and signage frameworks. Her domain expertise lies in procuring durable, weather-resistant infrastructure components engineered for high-use, environmentally sensitive areas, demonstrating deep familiarity with material specifications, fabrication tolerances, and installation requirements in remote federal lands.