Bajada Ecology LLC

Bajada Ecology LLC, a for-profit limited liability partnership based in Ridgecrest, California, operates as a prime contractor delivering desert tortoise field survey, population monitoring, statistical analysis, and scientific manuscript preparation services to the United States Geological Survey (USGS) Office of Acquisitions and Grants. The vendor competes exclusively in the full-and-open market without SBA set-asides on most awards, though several purchases carry Total Small Business designations.

Bajada's customer concentration is singular and absolute: all 18 recent awards (combined potential value $624 thousand) fund USGS biological and ecological research programs, with no diversification across agencies. The vendor's capability portfolio centers on concrete field work — demographic and habitat surveys of desert tortoise populations in California study plots (Upper Ward Valley, Chemehuevi Valley, Chuckwalla Valley, Chuckwalla Bench), locating and capturing tortoises according to standardized protocols, collecting health and population data, shell analysis, and post-survey statistical revision and manuscript development. Representative recent awards include a $140,311 Chemehuevi Valley Survey purchase order (March 15, 2024, Total Small Business set-aside, completed October 2024); an $86,350.50 Upper Ward Valley Survey purchase order (March 15, 2024, Total Small Business set-aside, completed October 2024); and a $9,450 purchase order from the USGS Western Ecological Research Center for relocating tortoise remains to a museum (June 25, 2026, completion March 31, 2027). The vendor also delivers smaller scope-of-work purchases — $8,300 for shell analysis, $3,000 for science supportive services, $2,450 for statistical analysis revision on a manuscript addressing dog attacks and damage to desert tortoises.

Activity has been episodic. Bajada secured three awards in 2021, declined to two in 2022, recovered to three in 2023, grew to five in 2024, and has recorded one award in 2026 to date. The combined potential value of $624 thousand has been fully obligated across all awards. Only one award ($9,450, completion March 31, 2027) faces recompete within the next twenty-four months, exposing minimal recompete risk. The vendor operates entirely as a prime contractor — no subcontract footprint appears in the source. Primary NAICS coding reflects the work scope: 13 awards fall under All Other Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services; 4 under Environmental Consulting Services; and 1 under Other Scientific and Technical Consulting Services.