Sally Cousins

Sally Cousins serves as the primary contracting lead for the Stewardship Contracting Branch of the U.S. Forest Service, where she manages complex, landscape-scale acquisitions designed to advance ecological restoration and wildfire risk reduction. Her role centers on executing stewardship contracts that integrate timber harvesting with watershed protection, infrastructure maintenance, and habitat improvement—aligning with the agency’s mission to promote sustainable forest management through collaborative, results-based contracting. She routinely handles multi-year, performance-based agreements under FAR Part 37 and 16.5, often combining multiple work elements into single contracts to achieve holistic ecological outcomes. Cousins 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 partnerships reflect a preference for firms with proven expertise in forest operations, heavy civil construction, and prefabricated metal systems. Her procurement approach emphasizes long-term collaboration, technical reliability, and on-the-ground execution capacity, fostering trust-based vendor relationships that support multi-year stewardship objectives. She maintains a 100% total small business set-aside preference across all acquisitions, demonstrating a steadfast commitment to socioeconomic contracting under FAR 19.5. All contracts are structured to prioritize small business participation without distinction among HUBZone, SDVOSB, or general small business categories, reflecting a broad-based strategy to expand economic opportunity within rural and forest-dependent communities. Her procurement focus is concentrated in NAICS 237990 (Other Heavy and Civil Engineering Construction) and 332311 (Prefabricated Metal Building and Component Manufacturing), underscoring expertise in infrastructure projects such as forest road repair, erosion control structures, and engineered wood products for trail and facility development. She specializes in acquisitions requiring technical knowledge of silvicultural practices, environmental compliance, and durable, low-maintenance construction materials tailored to remote, high-risk forest environments.