Stephani Rust

Stephani Rust serves as a Contracting Officer Representative for the White River National Forest under the U.S. Forest Service, playing a critical role in the execution and oversight of federal acquisitions aligned with the agency’s mission of ecological stewardship and infrastructure resilience. She provides hands-on contract administration for site preparation and land restoration projects, ensuring compliance with federal regulations, performance standards, and environmental safeguards. Her responsibilities include monitoring contractor performance, verifying deliverables, and facilitating communication between field personnel and vendors to support timely, mission-critical outcomes in post-fire recovery and forest management operations. Rust maintains consistent working relationships with FRONTIER TINY HOMES, LLC and GERMRIP LLC, both of which deliver specialized site preparation and ecological restoration services. These partnerships reflect a pattern of collaboration with niche, technically proficient vendors capable of executing complex, terrain-sensitive work in remote and ecologically sensitive areas. Her approach emphasizes accountability, adaptive project management, and alignment with forest service protocols, fostering long-term vendor reliability and operational synergy. Rust’s procurement portfolio is fully dedicated to Small Business Set-Aside contracts under FAR 19.5, reflecting a strong institutional commitment to socioeconomic inclusion. All acquisitions are structured to maximize opportunities for small businesses, ensuring that local and regional firms with expertise in land management and environmental remediation can meaningfully contribute to federal land stewardship goals. Her primary technical focus is on NAICS 238910, Site Preparation Contractors, encompassing activities such as grading, erosion control, invasive species removal, and infrastructure site prep for ranger stations and trail systems. She specializes in procurements requiring precision in ecological impact mitigation and adherence to National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requirements, demonstrating deep domain knowledge in land-based restoration and sustainable construction practices.