United States Department of Agriculture
Forest Service

File Code: 6300-4
Date: February 21, 2003
Route To: (6300)

Subject: Increasing Forest Service Achievement in the
Javits-Wagner-O'Day Act (JWOD) Program

To: Regional Foresters, Station Directors, Area Director, IITF Director,
Job Corps, and WO Staff

REPLY DUE MARCH 5, 2003

I am asking each of you to put increased emphasis on procuring goods and services from the Javits-Wagner-O'Day Act (JWOD) Program. The Program creates jobs for persons with blindness or other severe disabilities that otherwise cannot be employed. The Program depends on the Federal Government, including the Forest Service, to purchase products and services made by those persons.

Everyday in the Sidney Yates Building, I come in contact with the severely disabled employees of Melwood, a non-profit member of the JWOD program. I am proud that in 2002 a Forest Service Contractor, North Central Sight Services, Inc. of Williamsport, Pennsylvania won the USDA 'JWOD Small Business Contractor of the Year' Award. The Forest Service is establishing itself as a leader of the JWOD Program through the efforts of dedicated employees. I fully support United States Department of Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman's emphasis of the program.

I am committing the Forest Service to an annual increase in JWOD acquisitions of ½ percent of total procurement expenditures per year. Based upon last year's JWOD purchases and the total procurement expenditures, I project we need to purchase $6,113,000 this year. Next year the figure will approach $12,500,000. If we are to meet the goal in coming years, we must add new products and services to the JWOD Program Procurement List. To that end, you will soon receive information on how you can identify such new products and services.

Each Regional Forester, Station Director, Area Director, IITF Director and Job Corps Director shall identify and empower one or more program or acquisition staff members as JWOD Liaisons to lead this effort. Additionally, I also ask that you appoint JWOD Liaisons for each of the following fire caches: Redmond, OR; Ontario, CA; Prescott, AZ; Redding, CA; Missoula, MT; Silver City, NM; and the Rocky Mountain Fire Cache. Please give those names to Acquisition Management Director Robbie Chrishon by March 5, 2003.

The Policy Branch of Acquisition Management is now preparing a plan for reaching our goal.

JWOD is a great program for great people and we will make it even better.

(signed)
Irving W. Thomas, for
THOMAS J. MILLS
Deputy Chief for Business Operations

cc: Robbie Chrishon