[Protest of NPS Contract Award for Land Surveys]

A firm protested a National Park Service (NPS) contract award for a land survey, contending that NPS: (1) failed to follow the solicitation's evaluation criteria; and (2) conducted an improper auction in its request for best and final offers by implying that the protester should decrease its bid. GAO held that: (1) NPS properly awarded the contract based on price, since it determined that all the proposals were technically equal; and (2) the agency's referral to the current contract price was not an improper auction technique and did not affect the protester's bid. Accordingly, the protest was denied.