Timbered Rangeland Management, LLC (13302)

B-418424 Apr 15, 2020 Jump To VIEW DECISION DOWNLOADS RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights Timbered Rangeland Management, LLC, of Ellensburg, Washington, protests the circumstances surrounding its award of a timber sale contract under solicitation No. 13302, issued by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, for an approximate volume of 6,874 cubic feet (CCF) of timber to be cut and sold, and biomass to be removed, in the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest in Washington. The protester primarily argues that the agency improperly allowed another firm to participate in the oral auction via telephone. We deny the protest. View Decision Decision Matter of:  Timbered Rangeland Management, LLC File:  B-418424 Date:  April 15, 2020 Bret Daugherty, for the protester. Lori Polin Jones, Esq., U.S. Department of Agriculture, for the agency. Christine Milne, Esq., and Tania Calhoun, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST Protest that the agency violated timber sale bidding regulations by allowing a bidder to participate in an oral auction via telephone is denied where the agency reasonably applied its discretion in determining to allow such participation, which also enhanced competition and the fair market value of the sale to the government.  DECISION Timbered Rangeland Management, LLC, of Ellensburg, Washington, protests the circumstances surrounding its award of a timber sale contract under solicitation  No. 13302, issued by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, for an approximate volume of 6,874 cubic feet (CCF) of timber to be cut and sold, and biomass to be removed, in the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest in Washington.  The protester primarily argues that the agency improperly allowed another firm to participate in the oral auction via telephone.  We deny the protest. BACKGROUND The solicitation for this timber sale was advertised in a local newspaper and via letter sent to prospective bidders on December 21, 2019.  Agency Report (AR), Tab 3, Newspaper Advertisement, at 27-28; Tab 4, Letter to Prospective Bidders, at 29.  The advertisement and letter provided that the agency would receive sealed and oral bids in public on January 21, 2020, at the Wenatchee Forest Supervisor’s Office at 10 a.m. Pacific Time.  Id. at 29.  Two sealed bids were received on the day of the oral auction; one from Timbered and one from Gibson and Son Road Building, Inc.  Contracting Officer’s Statement (COS) at 1.  The owner of Timbered, and an employee of Gibson, were present to hand in the sealed bids and participate in the oral auction.  Id.  The contracting officer consulted the bid authority binder to confirm whether the individuals present were authorized to bid in the oral auction.  Id.  He determined that the Gibson employee was not authorized to bid on behalf of Gibson and so informed her.  The employee asked that Gibson’s owner be permitted to bid on behalf of Gibson via speaker phone on her cell phone during the oral auction.  Id. at 1.  Timbered’s owner objected, asserting that bidding this way was not allowed.  Id. at 3.  The contracting officer left the room to call the regional claims forester and discuss whether bidding over an electronic device, such as a cell phone, should be permitted.  The contracting officer and the regional claims forester decided that it was acceptable for Gibson’s owner to bid over speakerphone and the bidders were informed of this decision.  Timbered’s owner repeated his earlier objection.  Id. at 1.  The Gibson employee then called the firm’s owner who announced himself over the phone by name and affiliation, and the contracting officer confirmed that he recognized the voice of Gibson’s owner.  Id. Two of the agency’s timber resource specialists opened the sealed bids to review their contents and confirm the required documents were included.  Id.  While reviewing Timbered’s bid, the contracting officer discovered that box eight on page one of the bid form was left blank; the box required a checkmark for whether the “type of bid” was sealed or oral.  Id. at 3; AR, Tab 8, Timbered Sealed Bid Form, at 197.  While reviewing Gibson’s bid, the contracting officer discovered that box 16 on page two of the bid form was left blank; the box required a checkmark for whether the bidder was a “[m]anufacturer or [n]on-manufacturer of sawtimber.”  COS at 3; AR, Tab 9, Gibson Sealed Bid Form, at 204.  The contracting officer concluded that these two omissions were minor informalities and not grounds to reject the bids as nonresponsive.  COS at 3.  Both bids were found responsive and the oral auction commenced.  Id. at 1.  Both sealed bids set forth the minimum required bid of $0.25/CCF, and the sale was bid up to $32.51/CCF by Timbered as the apparent high bidder.  Id.