Media Release

ALACHUA COUNTY, FL – Alachua County is issuing a Request for Proposals (RFP) from interested parties to provide caretaking, maintenance and security services on the 23 acre Newnans Lake Cypress Preserve in exchange for limited hunting privileges for a term of 5 years.  The natural communities on the preserve include floodplain swamp, black water stream, upland hardwood forest, and bottomland forest.

The proposal submittal deadline is Wednesday, September 25, 2013 at 2 p.m.  The County will conduct two pre-proposal meetings at the Preserve, located on the southwest side of Newnans Lake at 5600 SE Hawthorne Road.  Attendance at one of these meetings is mandatory for proposers.

Pre-proposal meeting times:

1.    Thursday, September 5, 2013 at 5:30 p.m.

2.    Tuesday, September 10, 2013 at 9 a.m.

View RFP application and details

Pursuant to Alachua County purchasing policies, all questions should be addressed to Alachua County Purchasing Agent, Matt Stevens at 352-374-5202 or mstevens@alachuacounty.us.

This RFP is a result of a meeting that took place on January 22, 2013.   At this meeting the Alachua County Board of County Commissioners adopted the Alachua County Hunting Business Plan.  The intent of the plan is to establish principles to guide the appropriate management of recreational hunting on Alachua County Forever (ACF) managed lands.

The plan’s four modes of hunting are as follows:

1.    Wildlife management areas or public small game hunt areas managed by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

2.    Multi-year hunting agreements managed by Alachua County with private individuals or a private group.

3.    Limited-hunt agreements managed by Alachua County with private groups or public agencies, i.e. youth or handicapped hunts.

4.    No hunting permitted areas.  

This preserve is the first Alachua County Forever property made available for a multi-year hunting agreement as outlined in item 2 above.