[Protest of Forest Service Sale of Timber]

A firm protested a contract award to another firm under a Forest Service timber sale, contending that: (1) the awardee breached the contract by not paying a deposit within 30 days of the contract award; and (2) the Forest Service awarded it a contract after terminating the awardee's contract for not paying the deposit. The Forest Service notified the awardee of the breach of contract and invited other offerers to submit bids; the protester's was the high bid. The awardee noted a clause in the contract which allowed it to remedy the breach, and it paid the deposit and an interest penalty. The Forest Service returned the protester's bid unopened. GAO held that whether the awardee breached the contract was a matter of contract administration. In addition, GAO held that, since the Forest Service never accepted the protester's bid, there was no contract between the Forest Service and the protester. Accordingly, the protest was dismissed in part and denied in part.