Santa Barbara Botanic Garden, Inc.

Santa Barbara Botanic Garden, Inc., a tax-exempt nonprofit based in Santa Barbara, California, provides native plant conservation, seed banking, rare plant surveys, and ecological monitoring to federal agencies through cooperative agreements and contracts, operating as a prime recipient or contractor (99% of recent awards). The organization competes in full-and-open solicitations across Department of the Interior (DOI), Department of the Navy, Department of the Air Force, and interagency vehicles; it holds no SBA set-aside designations.

The Garden's capability portfolio centers on field-based botanical research, conservation seed banking, endangered species recovery support, and habitat restoration monitoring for western U.S. public lands. Representative contract work includes a $105,063 firm-fixed-price delivery order from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) National Office for native plant seed collection in the Bakersfield, California area (awarded September 2023, completed September 2024), a $75,784 BLM IDIQ delivery order for seed collection in Region 2 near Bakersfield (January 2022), and a $3,360 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Region 5 purchase order for seed banking services (September 2022, extending through September 2025). Grant work spans the BLM Plant Conservation and Restoration Management program (CFDA 15.245), DOI Fish and Wildlife Service cooperative agreements, National Park Service Natural Resource Stewardship programs, and Institute of Museum and Library Services Museums for America grants (CFDA 45.301). Recent grants include a $206,382 five-year BLM cooperative agreement for assessing the geographic distribution and conservation status of the Inyo rock daisy (August 2024–August 2029), a $167,292 Air Force Civil Engineer Center cooperative agreement for genetic analysis of the Gaviota tarplant at Vandenberg Space Force Base (May 2026–November 2027), a $299,296 IMLS project grant for digital asset management system development (September 2024–August 2027), and ongoing cooperative agreements with DOI Fish and Wildlife Service Region 8 for monitoring Vandenberg monkeyflower, surveying Santa Cruz Island dudleya, and analyzing rare species taxonomy.

Customer concentration is highly concentrated in Interior agencies. The top five funding entities by award count account for 59% of awards: DOI Fish and Wildlife Service Region 8 (14 awards), BLM California Region (11 awards), National Park Service Pacific West Region (6 awards), Department of the Navy Installations Command (6 awards), and BLM National Office (5 awards, $5.3 million combined potential value). By potential value, the BLM National Office dominates the portfolio at $5.3 million of the $5.4 million total combined potential value. A single IDIQ vehicle (Indefinite Delivery Contract 140L0618D0042) carries four task orders worth $255,000 combined. Awards per year show modest volatility—eight in 2022, five in 2023, ten in 2024—with seven awards reaching ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months, representing recompete exposure. One sub-award to a California Department of Fish and Wildlife–led grant (February 2025) represents the Garden's limited subcontractor footprint; the overwhelming majority of its federal engagement is as a direct recipient or contractor. Work is performed across California and at military installations including Vandenberg Space Force Base, Naval Base Coronado, Naval Auxiliary Landing Field San Clemente Island, and Naval Base Ventura County, with administrative oversight and specimen curation maintained at the Santa Barbara headquarters.