Darla Freyholtz

Darla Freyholtz Ballard serves as a key procurement lead within the Sat Team 2 FWS, supporting the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s mission to sustain and restore natural ecosystems through operational and infrastructure acquisitions. She manages a diverse portfolio of contracts focused on habitat restoration, wildlife monitoring equipment, conservation infrastructure, and field support services, ensuring alignment with federal environmental and operational readiness priorities. Her work directly enables field teams to maintain refuge facilities, control invasive species, and conduct scientific surveys, making her a critical link between mission needs and acquisition execution across federal wildlife lands. Her primary contractor relationships include EarthBalance Corporation for ecological restoration services, Coast Machinery LLC for specialized equipment maintenance, Ontic Engineering & Manufacturing, Inc. for custom fabrication of field hardware, John Deere Shared Services, LLC for heavy equipment support, and Life Technologies Corporation for biological monitoring tools. These partnerships reflect a pattern of engaging vendors with proven technical expertise in conservation-grade equipment, field-ready machinery, and ecological service delivery, often requiring compliance with federal environmental standards and ruggedized operational specifications. Freyholtz Ballard demonstrates a strong commitment to small business participation, with over 58% of her acquisitions structured as total small business set-asides under FAR 19.5. While the majority of awards support small businesses, she also maintains a limited but intentional use of Indian Economic Enterprise set-asides, consistent with Department of the Interior priorities for tribal economic development. Her contracting patterns reflect a deliberate effort to foster local and mission-aligned vendor capacity while ensuring competitive, compliant procurement practices. Her procurement focus is anchored in NAICS 115310 (Support Activities for Forestry), reflecting her core work in habitat management and ecological services. Secondary emphasis is placed on NAICS 333120 (Construction Machinery Manufacturing) and 336999 (Other Transportation Equipment Manufacturing), indicating frequent acquisition of off-road vehicles, trail maintenance equipment, and field-deployable instrumentation. Her technical domain expertise spans conservation infrastructure, wildlife monitoring systems, and sustainable land management equipment, ensuring acquisitions directly support on-the-ground ecological outcomes.