Procurement Practices and Procedures]

The Denver Regional Office of GAO completed an examination of procurement practices and procedures used in awarding contracts by the Missoula Regional Office of the Forest Service and the Flathead National Forest Office. GAO evaluated the Offices' efficiency and effectiveness in awarding formally advertised contracts and reviewed some negotiated contracts. GAO believes that the Offices could have increased the number of bidders for their formally advertised contracts by complying with Federal Procurement Regulations that require them to make recommendations on ways to increase future competition when two or fewer bids are received and that require them to publish synopses of proposed procurements within established timeframes. Noncompliance with these recommendations can impede adequate competition. The review of negotiated contracts showed that the Offices were also not complying with regulations requiring preparation of certain documents to justify the use of negotiation instead of formal advertising. Inadequate documentation of negotiated procurement actions can jeopardize the contracting operations' integrity. Such instances of noncompliance with Federal Procurement Regulations can be detected through effective procurement management reviews. GAO noted that management reviews had not been performed within 3 years at the Missoula Regional Office, nor within 2 years at the Flathead National Forest Office. Had such reviews been performed more recently, these instances of noncompliance could have been detected. GAO recommended that the Offices assure that all contracting officials comply with the Federal Procurement Regulations when awarding contracts and assure that procurement management reviews are performed more frequently.