Outrage Accompanies Plan to Allow Development in Florida State Parks

No elected or appointed officials should sell rights to develop our parks.  It’s a ludicrous idea. Shameful as well.”

Lyn Pannone

Local conservation groups are among the scores of Floridians contesting a recent plan from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to permit the construction of golf courses, hotels, pickleball courts and other structures within the boundaries of nine prominent Florida state parks. Opponents describe the surprise announcement of the plan known as the Great Outdoors Initiative as anything but great.

The DEP proposal, issued on August 19, caught Floridians and even many state officials off guard. But organized opposition to the plan has been swift.

“I’ve been surprised by the quick, statewide negative response to this proposal,” said Lyn Pannone, president of the Amelia Tree Conservancy. “As a native Floridian, I can’t recall any issue generating such a rapid response. This occurred in less than a week.

“Citizens voted to pay for many of our state parks because they wanted the land to stay undeveloped,” she added. “No elected or appointed officials should sell rights to develop our parks.  It’s a ludicrous idea. Shameful as well.”

The plan would allow construction of lodging and recreational structures within state park boundaries. Nine parks were targeted for potential projects, including:

• Jonathan Dickinson State Park 

• Dr. Von D. Mizell-Eula Johnson State Park 

• Hillsborough River State Park 

• Oleta River State Park 

• Honeymoon Island State Park 

• Anastasia State Park 

• Camp Helen State Park 

• Topsail Hill Preserve State Park 

• Grayton Beach State Park 

In announcing the plan, DEP officials said: “The initiative will work to expand public access, increase outdoor activities and provide new lodging options across Florida's state parks —reinforcing the state’s dedication to conservation, the outdoor recreation economy and a high quality of life for Floridians.” Florida has 175 state parks.

The plan calls for increasing the number of campsites, cabins and lodges on park property as well as increasing “the number of outdoor recreation opportunities available at Florida’s state parks, including pickleball, disc golf, golf and paddling.”

But critics say the plan is counter to the concept of state parks. Parkland is typically set aside by governments to protect unspoiled, natural habitat from the kind of development proposed in the Great Outdoors Initiative. State park land often represents the most scenic and serene property in Florida and is central to the preservation of many species of wildlife and their habitats, said Margaret Kirkland, a founding member and board member of Conserve Nassau, a local organization that advocates for environmental protections.

As more Florida land is developed for housing and industry, the state’s remaining state parks should be off-limits to rampant development, Kirkland said.

“Florida is already in a highly vulnerable position as a result of its extreme overdevelopment, particularly in its fragile coastal areas,” Kirkland said. “We need our parks to be kept as natural as possible in order to manage heat, maintain clean water, process storm water and protect us from storm winds. We also need this habitat for the wildlife and wildlife corridors we need to maintain.”

State conservation groups, including the Audubon Society, Sierra Club of Florida and the Florida Wildlife Federation, responded quickly to the threat posed by the initiative. Locally, Amelia Tree Conservancy members have sent hundreds of emails to the state to oppose the plan. Within days of the plan’s release, opponents organized protest rallies at Anastasia State Park in St. Johns County and at Jonathan Dickinson State Park in Martin County.

Even some Republican state lawmakers have questioned whether the state should be in the business of running golf courses and hotels.

The Observer reached out to North Florida Rep. Clay Yarborough (R-Jacksonville) for comment but did not receive a reply.

Gov. Ron DeSantis has also been silent on his plan in recent days. Last week, however, DeSantis’ press aide Jeremy Redfern posted on the social media site X: "It’s high time we made public lands more accessible to the public.”

However, if the state moves forward with the plan, it will be doing so against the will of a majority of Floridians, Kirkland said, who added that the proposal is motivated by corporate greed. “This is not a case where high-ranking politicians don’t know what the will of Floridians is — to protect and conserve our native lands.”

Conservation groups have also criticized the rollout of the proposal. DEP scheduled eight simultaneous public hearings on the proposal on Aug. 27 — only one week following the announcement. However, late last week the agency rescheduled the hearings due to “overwhelming interest.” The hearings are now expected to occur the week of Sept. 2.

But, said leaders of the Sierra Club of Florida in a statement: “It was actually overwhelming outrage compelling hoards of Floridians to flock to the paltry excuses for meeting spaces and times FDEP had provided to collect public comment ... Don’t give us new venues and dates for public meetings. Don’t spend more taxpayer dollars to promote private business ventures. Don’t prolong the debacle. The only thing (Gov. Ron) DeSantis and his FDEP need to do — must do now — is shut down this abhorrent “initiative” as quickly as they foisted it upon us.”

In addition to upcoming public hearings, the DEP is gathering public feedback on the issue.