In response to a concessioner’s objections to its annual overall rating (AOR) of unsatisfactory, the National Park Service revised the rating to satisfactory which preserved the concessioner’s right to match a higher offer pursuant to the next prospectus. In the initial evaluation, NPS had improperly evaluated the concessioner in several areas, including a rating of less than 10 out of 100 for environmental management. The park also imposed non-existent criteria as part of its evaluation. With assistance from The Garden Law Firm, the concessioner demonstrated to the park that the evaluation was in error. As a result, the final environmental management score was raised to 95. Among other errors, the park had also scored the concessioner on items that should not have been included as part of the evaluation of a Category III concession contract. And by effectively objecting to the evaluation at the park level, the concessioner did not need to formally appeal the evaluation.
