Southwest Research LLC

Southwest Research LLC, a small business partnership based in Moab, Utah, provides forestry data collection, stand examination services, and natural resources consulting to the U.S. Forest Service and Department of the Interior as a prime contractor exclusively (100% of recent awards), competing across total small business set-asides and full-and-open federal procurements. The vendor operates under NAICS 115310 (Support Activities for Forestry), with secondary classification under NAICS 541620 (Environmental Consulting Services) and PSC code R408 (Support-Professional: Natural Resources).

Southwest Research's customer footprint is heavily concentrated in the Forest Service. The top five customers account for 59% of awards by count and 98% of combined potential value. The Department of Agriculture Forest Service Rocky Mountain Region (R2) dominates the active portfolio with 23 awards worth $11.2 million combined potential value, followed by the Intermountain Region (R4) with 6 awards ($530 thousand), the Southwestern Region (R3) with 1 award ($7 million), and the Northern Region (R1) with 1 award ($2 million). The Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management and GSA Federal Acquisition Service round out the customer set. However, the dollar concentration masks a structural shift: the Forest Service Washington Office Acquisitions recently awarded Southwest Research a $50 million Blanket Purchase Agreement (LMIR — Land Management Integrated Resources) on May 15, 2026, with performance extending through March 6, 2033, which now anchors 68% of the vendor's combined potential value across all awards.

Southwest Research holds two primary IDVs: the $50 million LMIR BPA established with Forest Service Acquisitions in May 2026 (multiple-award, small business set-aside, covering environmental consulting, natural resources restoration, engineering, project management, and data management across the United States), and a $7 million single-award Indefinite Delivery Contract with the Forest Service Southwestern Region awarded in August 2021 (expiring September 30, 2025) for common stand examination data collection and forestry services. Recent task orders against these vehicles and companion purchase orders illustrate the scope: a $40,287 Common Stand Exam timber inventory on the Medicine Bow-Routt National Forests and Thunder Basin National Grassland in Wyoming (June 2024, total small business set-aside), a $34,680 post-fire Common Stand Exam on Medicine Bow-Routt in Wyoming (June 2025, small business set-aside), and a $38,950 FY26 woodland raptor survey in Gunnison, Colorado under the LMIR BPA (June 2026, small business set-aside).

Activity shows sparse recent volume outside the LMIR BPA award: six awards in 2020, two in 2021, then single awards in 2024, 2025, and 2026 (excluding the new $50 million IDV itself). Only two awards ($68 thousand combined potential value) reach ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months, placing minimal near-term recompete pressure. The portfolio demonstrates Southwest Research's specialization in field-based vegetation surveys, timber stand inventories using Common Stand Exam protocols, post-fire regeneration monitoring, and wildlife survey work across western National Forests. Crew-level staffing carries prevailing-wage Service Contract Act obligations ranging from $13.96 to $27.24 per hour by occupational classification. Combined dollars obligated across all awards total $4.2 million (6% of the $72.9 million combined potential value), reflecting the early-stage nature of the $50 million LMIR BPA.