Rep. Lois Capps, D-Santa Barbara, will present a ceremonial check in the amount of $148,895 to the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden on Tuesday.

Funds have been awarded to the garden through the 2010 Museums of America granting program of the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services.

With the grant, the Botanic Garden will be able to initiate a plant-mapping project using geographical information system technology. The GIS will help the garden recover from the effects of the Jesuista Fire and allow for greater public access to the plant collections.

“The Santa Barbara Botanic Garden is extremely pleased and honored to receive such a prestigious Institute of Museum and Library Services grant,” said Andrew Wyatt, interim director of the Botanic Garden. “The development of a GIS mapping system will allow the Botanic Garden to effectively rebuild displays in the burned areas as well as accurately identifying and relabeling plants for public interpretation.”

Founded in 1926, the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden is the nation’s oldest botanic garden dedicated to scientific research, education and conservation of native California plants. Widely regarded as a model botanic garden, it is one of only 34 members of the distinguished Center for Plant Conservation, and is accredited as a living museum by the American Association of Museums — a distinction granted to only 4 percent of the nearly 600 botanic gardens in the United States.

The Institute of Museum and Library Services is the primary source of federal support for the nation’s 122,000 libraries and 17,500 museums. Its mission is to create strong libraries and museums that connect people to information and ideas.

— Nancy Johnson is the vice president of marketing and government relations for the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden.