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History of FRIENDSThe Friends of Paynes Prairie was organized in 1985, in part as a result of a conversation between Carl Lipsius and Park Manager Jack Gillen. These men, in the company of Frank Saier, Ed Johnson, William Mauzy, Mark Barrow, and David Flagg recognized a need to help the Preserve to procure support and equipment not available through normal State channels. The organization was incorporated under Florida Not-For-Profit Corporation statutes early in 1986, and in 2004 became a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt corporation. An early goal of the Preserve was to try to return the ecosystems of the Prairie to a state as close as possible to what William Bartram found when he visited the Prairie in the Eighteenth Century. American bison and feral cattle were inhabitants of the Prairie then, so the Founders set about locating, raising funds to purchase, and procuring bison and Cracker horses, which now run wild with a strain of cattle very close to what the Spanish brought to the New World. The Friends of Paynes Prairie, Inc. has flourished as an organization, growing from fewer than 30 members in 2003 to over 450 in 2010. Available funding has grown as well, and many features now seen in the Park were sponsored in part by the Friends. Friends has been active in many projects over the years, including the Primitive Arts Festival, the La Chua Trail interpretive booth, the Art on the Prairie programs, other evening events at the Visitor Center, the weekly Farmers' Market in downtown Gainesville, and the development of a grant for the redesign of the Visitor Center. More About Friends: To verify our charitable status refer to GuideStar by clicking here and entering Friends of Paynes Prairie 
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