Salas Fermin

Salas Fermin Fermin Salas Division, a minority-owned, Hispanic American sole proprietorship based in West Covina, California, delivers specialized vegetation and seed sampling services to the U.S. Forest Service as a prime contractor across total small business set-asides and full-and-open procurements. The vendor operates exclusively under USDA Forest Service contracts, with 100% of recent work flowing from the Department of Agriculture and 94% of award count (16 of 17 awards) coming from the Forest Service's Pacific Southwest Region.

The vendor's capability portfolio centers on conifer cone collection, white pine needle sampling, and pollen and plant material sourcing for forest regeneration and disease-resistance monitoring across California's national forests. Work is performed using specialized techniques including tree climbing, mechanical lifts, and shooting or slinging equipment to obtain specimens from difficult-to-reach locations. Representative awards include a $45,310 BPA call (August 2026) for mature conifer cone collection from the Cleveland National Forest; a $31,270 BPA call (September 2025) for cone collection across Los Padres, Angeles, Cleveland, and San Bernardino National Forests; a $32,481 BPA call (August 2024) for conifer cone collection and maturity testing across Southern California national forests; and a $22,880 BPA call (September 2022) for white pine needle sample collection to screen for blister rust resilience in Southern California forests. Individual task orders typically range from $2,500 to $45,000, with combined potential value across nine small task orders totaling only $595 thousand against Salas Fermin's existing BPA with Region 5.

The vendor's strategic vehicle position shifted significantly in June 2026 with award of a $50 million Land Management Integrated Resources (LMIR) BPA from the Forest Service Washington Office Acquisitions, running through March 2033 and covering a broad scope of professional services including project management, inspection, natural resources consulting, data management, restoration, road work, and plant material production across the United States. This $50 million ceiling represents the vendor's single largest award and a multi-year expansion beyond the region-specific cone and needle collection work that has dominated its contract footprint. The vendor also holds position on a $250 thousand cone, needle, pollen, and vegetation sampling BPA with Region 5 (awarded July 2022, running through July 2027), against which eight task orders have been issued. Activity shows high volatility — two awards in 2022, five in 2023, one in 2024, one in 2025, and two in 2026 — with the bulk of invoiced value ($297 thousand obligated across $50.6 million in combined potential value) concentrated in small, completed BPA calls rather than the newly awarded large vehicles. The vendor competes under total small business set-asides on most work, with sporadic full-and-open calls. Primary NAICS classifications are 541620 (Environmental Consulting Services) and subordinate forest nurseries and gathering categories (NAICS 111421); primary PSC is R408 (Support-Professional: Natural Resources).