Cosumnes River Preserve Waterfowl Hunt Opportunity

---

Request for Proposals (RFP) for the administration of hunting at Cougar Wetland on the Cosumnes River Preserve

The 154-acre Cougar Wetland is a beautiful area largely free of visual intrusions. The US Bureau of Land Management, with the help of Ducks Unlimited, Cosumnes Lame Duck Shooters, California Waterfowl, and Valley Waterfowl, has managed hunts on the area for youth and disabled hunters for over 10 years. Hunter success has averaged a little over 1 bird per hunter day. Habitat enhancements planned in the near future are expected to improve the hunting. The area is big enough for 3-4 groups with 2-4 hunters each to hunt on a given day.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is seeking a qualified organization to administer waterfowl hunting for youth, women and disabled hunters on its Cougar Wetland at the Cosumnes River Preserve (CRP). The organization selected will receive a permit (BLM Form 2930-1) to administer hunting on Saturdays, Sundays and Wednesdays at Cougar Wetland during the 2009-2010 and 2010-2011 waterfowl hunting seasons.

The organization selected will be responsible for:

• Selecting youth, women, and disabled hunters in an equitable manner;
• Assuring that disabled hunters have at least one and not more than two able bodied assistants;
• Assuring that youth and women hunters have at least one experienced hunter in the blind with them;
• Assuring that all hunting laws and safe hunting practices are followed;
• Maintaining the blinds;
• Providing and setting out decoys and retrieving all of them within a week after the season;
• Keeping the area free of all trash including shell casings;
• Properly opening and closing the gate to the area;
• Providing people to help with the pump;
• Submitting a brief weekly report to the CRP Wetlands Manager;
• Submitting an Annual Report in March that includes photos and details hunter use, hunter success, how hunters were recruited, work accomplished, and suggestions for improvement.

The BLM will:

• Provide overall supervision;
• Pay all pumping costs;
• Pay for habitat improvements (disking, mowing, road repair, pump repair, etc.).

Deadlines:  Not later than June 19, 2009, please submit your proposal/application package to: Preserve Manager, Cosumnes River Preserve, 13501 Franklin Blvd., Galt, CA 95632. In addition to the information requested below, the package should include:

1. A completed BLM Form 2930-1
2. A check for $90 made out to USDI, Bureau of Land Management
3. An insurance certificate

To be selected, an organization must provide the following:

• A primary point of contact for the proposal,
• A statement on why the interested party wants to run the program at the CRP,
• Qualifications, experience, and verifiable capabilities and past performance to run the program and provide the needed reports with little or no supervision,
• Anticipated plan to recruit youth, women and disabled hunters to the Cougar Wetland,
• Steps your organization would take to ensure hunter safety.

Please notify the Wetlands Manager (Holden_Brink@blm.gov 916-683-1740) of your intent to submit a proposal as soon as practical, but not later than May 29, 2009.

  at the Cosumnes River Preserve