B-310081; B-310275; B-310290; B-310370; B-310370.2; B-310371; B-310373; B-310467; B-310470, Poston Logging; Shasta Green, Inc; Sierra Cedar Products; Trinity River Lumber Company; Freres Lumber Co., Inc., November 13, 2007

B-310081; B-310275; B-310290; B-310370; B-310370.2; B-310371; B-310373; B-310467; B-310470, Poston Logging; Shasta Green, Inc; Sierra Cedar Products; Trinity River Lumber Company; Freres Lumber Co., Inc., November 13, 2007 TITLE: B-310081; B-310275; B-310290; B-310370; B-310370.2; B-310371; B-310373; B-310467; B-310470, Poston Logging; Shasta Green, Inc; Sierra Cedar Products; Trinity River Lumber Company; Freres Lumber Co., Inc., November 13, 2007 BNUMBER: B-310081; B-310275; B-310290; B-310370; B-310370.2; B-310371; B-310373; B-310467; B-310470 DATE: November 13, 2007 ***************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************** B-310081; B-310275; B-310290; B-310370; B-310370.2; B-310371; B-310373; B-310467; B-310470, Poston Logging; Shasta Green, Inc; Sierra Cedar Products; Trinity River Lumber Company; Freres Lumber Co., Inc., November 13, 2007 Decision Matter of: Poston Logging; Shasta Green, Inc; Sierra Cedar Products; Trinity River Lumber Company; Freres Lumber Co., Inc. File: B-310081; B-310275; B-310290; B-310370; B-310370.2; B-310371; B-310373; B-310467; B-310470 Date: November 13, 2007 Brian W. Craver, Esq., for Poston Logging; Diane Franklin, Shasta Green, Inc.; Tony Sims, Sierra Cedar Products; Dee Sanders, Trinity River Lumber Company; and Robert Freres, Jr., Freres Lumber Co., Inc., the protesters. Lori Polin Jones, United States Department of Agriculture, and Kenneth Dodds, Esq., Small Business Administration, for the agencies. Sharon L. Larkin, Esq., and James A. Spangenberg., Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST Forest Service was not required by any law or regulation to consider resale limitations applicable to small business timber purchasers under small business set-asides in preparing the appraisals for those sales; the clear purpose of the appraisal requirements in the National Forest Management Act, 16 U.S.C. sect. 472a(a) (2000), is to ensure that the public receives fair value from the sale of timber and does not require a separate or different appraisal method for small business set-aside timber sales in order to encourage small business sales. DECISION Poston Logging, Shasta Green, Inc., Sierra Cedar Products, Trinity River Lumber Company, and Freres Lumber Co., Inc., protest the terms of eight Forest Service timber sales, all set aside for small businesses, under sale Nos. 54344, 53612, 54345, 30406, 30408, 20185, 07004, and 00082. The protesters contend that the agency included erroneous timber values in the sale prospectuses in violation of statute, regulation, and policy.[1] We deny the protest. The Forest Service, in conjunction with the Small Business Administration (SBA), has established the Timber Sale Set-Aside Program in order to ensure that small business timber purchasers have an opportunity to purchase a "fair portion of the sale of timber from the National Forests." 55 Fed. Reg. 30485, 30486 (1990). The Timber Sale Set-Aside Program is conducted in accordance with published policies and procedures set forth in the Forest Service Handbook (FSH), see FSH 2409.18, ch. 90,[2] and includes a requirement that small business purchasers under a set-aside sale cannot "deliver more than 30 percent of advertised sawtimber volume (30% Rule) to processing facilities that are other than small business."[3] Id. sect. 92.51. As indicated, the eight sales here were set aside for small businesses. Each prospectus specified the location of the timber, the estimated volume of each of the various varieties of timber to be sold, and the minimum acceptable bid rate for each variety of timber. These bid rates represented the "appraised value" or "fair market value" of the timber. 36 C.F.R. sections 223.60, 223.61, 223.63 (2007). The prospectuses also included the "30% Rule" restriction on resale of the timber. As specified in the prospectuses, each company's bid was required to be for at least the appraised value because, as discussed more fully below, the Forest Service is prohibited from selling the timber for less than the appraised value. National Forest Management Act (NFMA), 16 U.S.C. sect. 472a(a) (2000); 36 C.F.R sect. 223.61. To determine the appraised or fair market value as required by the NFMA, the use of any particular appraisal method is not required; the discretion to establish such method rests with the Forest Service. 36 C.F.R. sect. 223.60. The appraisal methods used by the Forest Service are published in the FSH (at FSH 2409.18, ch.