Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis retreated from a plan to add recreational facilities, hotels and a golf course across nine state parks less than two weeks after the proposal was first floated.
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The Great Outdoors Initiative was launched Aug. 19 by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, calling for a range of development initiatives at parks spanning the state.
After a swift and severe public outcry that included many influential Florida Republican politicians, DeSantis told reporters Wednesday that the proposal was “going back to the drawing board” while distancing himself from the initial plans.
The plan for the nine parks ranged in scope, with some limited to things like pickleball courts or a disc golf course. But one proposal for Jonathan Dickinson State Park north of Palm Beach County stood out to conservationists because it proposed replacing much of the park with a golf course.
Backlash against the initiative came as soon as it was proposed. FDEP announced it would expand the number of planned public hearings to get input on the proposal before abruptly delaying the meetings until next week. Some cities responded by hosting their own community meetings instead.
The Sierra Club quickly organized protests against the plans at four of the parks where upgrades were proposed and at the FDEP office in Tallahassee.
In South Florida, protesters gathered at Oleta River State Park north of Miami to decry plans that included a disc golf course, pickleball courts and the construction of new cabins or “glamping opportunities.”
In St. Augustine, on Florida’s northeast coast, conceptual plans published by FDEP included pickleball courts, a disc golf course and a 350-room lodge. The proposal drew scorn from residents and local officials, who said they had not been consulted on the plans.
“The State of Florida has not contacted St. Johns County with any details of this project,” St. Johns County Commissioner Sarah Arnold said in a statement, according to First Coast News, the local NBC and ABC affiliate. “Parks are for people and not about projects for profit.”
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The DeSantis administration had initially defended the initiative, with spokesperson Jeremy Redfern telling CBS News Miami earlier this week that rounds of public discussion would be had before any final decisions were made.
“Teddy Roosevelt believed that public parks were for the benefit and enjoyment of the people, and we agree with him,” Redfern said in a statement to CBS, adding that “it's high time we made public lands more accessible to the public."
But a groundswell of uneasy allies has quickly formed to oppose the project.
Environmental groups like 1000 Friends of Florida, Friends of the Everglades and Vote Water were joined by Republicans like Florida Senate President Kathleen Passidomo, Rep. Adam Anderson and Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson to oppose the plan.
DeSantis’ first public comments about the proposal came Wednesday, when he said FDEP would reconsider the proposal. The governor’s office didn’t respond to Bisnow’s request for comment Thursday.
“I’d rather not spend any money on this,” DeSantis said at a press conference, according to the Miami Herald. “If people don’t want improvements, then we won’t do them.”
DeSantis described the plan as a “half-baked idea” that he had never seen or approved.
“It was intentionally leaked to a left-wing group to try and create a narrative,” the governor alleged.
After DeSantis pointed the finger at his opposition, U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a South Florida Democrat, publicly called for an investigation.
“We need DeSantis to release all records on this greedy land grab, plus an [Inspector General] investigation into who really backed it,” she posted on social media.
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