February 20, 2026

West Neck Preserve: Request for Proposal

The Town of Shelter Island Community Preservation Fund (CPF) Committee is soliciting proposals for a landscape plan for West Neck Preserve, a property located between West Neck Road and Nostrand Parkway on Shelter Island, NY.

When the property was purchased in December 2020, it was overgrown with numerous non-native, invasive plants. Five acres were cleared and though management has reduced the invasives, some of the more persistent ones remain. 

The CPF committee would like to revegetate some of the cleared areas with one or more meadows that will attract and support insects, birds, and mammals. 

Please see list of qualifications required here: 

West Neck Preserve - Request for Proposal (Deadline 03-31-26) PDF

Proposals should be emailed to Tim Purtell at by 3/31/2026

2-Candidates should have a knowledge of native plant species, particularly those native to the Long Island region. Candidates should also have a knowledge of non-native, invasive species and how to manage them without herbicides. Because the preserve also functions as a recharge area for Shelter Island’s aquifer, herbicides are not an option. The proposed restoration areas (below) still contain pockets of mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris). Candidates should have experience managing mugwort while transitioning the land to a meadow.

3-Proposals should provide a list of species and a budget for meadows in the three areas depicted below. The committee is not looking to plant all three at once but in stages.
*** Candidates should provide budgets for each area along with management plans.

https://www.shelterislandtown.gov/214/Community-Preservation-Fund-Advisory-Boa