GOP Lawmakers Take Aim at Parks Plan

By Jim Turner, The News Service of Florida

Some Republican lawmakers are criticizing a controversial proposal to add lodges, pickleball courts and golf at state parks, as Gov. Ron DeSantis’ office on Thursday defended the idea of making the sites “more visitor-friendly.”

The Florida Department of Environmental Protection this week announced the proposal, dubbed the “Great Outdoors Initiative,” and said eight meetings will be held Tuesday to review management plans for nine parks, from Miami-Dade County to the Panhandle.

Environmental groups quickly criticized the initiative and were joined Thursday by Republican lawmakers including Senate President Kathleen Passidomo, who is a chief proponent of creating a statewide wildlife corridor.

“We have worked hard to improve our state parks with the goal of protecting and preserving natural habitats, and enhancing access to passive recreational activities like hiking, biking, or canoeing,” Passidomo, R-Naples, said on the social-media site X. “Our vision did not contemplate the addition of golf courses and hotels, which in my view are not in-line with the peaceful and quiet enjoyment of nature. I am open to other ideas, but from what I know at this time, the proposal should not move forward in its current form.”

Sen. Jay Trumbull, a Panama City Republican whose Northwest Florida district includes three of the targeted state parks, called the proposal “unnecessary development.”

The initiative proposes a lodge of up to 350 rooms, along with four pickleball courts and a disc golf course at Topsail Hill Preserve State Park in Walton County. Plans for Camp Helen State Park in Bay County and Grayton Beach State Park in Walton County each include the addition of 10 cabins. Camp Helen State Park could also get a “glamping” area. Glamping is essentially a combination of the words glamorous and camping.

“I stand in strong opposition to the proposed expansion of state parks to include golf courses and associated facilities in our state parks, particularly in Camp Helen, Topsail Hill Preserve and Grayton Beach State Parks, which have been targeted in the initial expansion and hold a place of enormous importance to our district,” Trumbull posted. “Our state parks should not be in the business of competing with private enterprise to provide lodging or other commercial amenities.”

But DeSantis spokesman Jeremy Redfern said “multiple phases” of public discussion will be held to get feedback. He said the proposed changes might not all be approved and that the Department of Environmental Protection is looking at ways to make parks “more visitor-friendly.”

“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. “No administration has done more than we have to conserve Florida’s natural resources, grow conservation lands, and keep our environment pristine. But it’s high time we made public lands more accessible to the public.”

DeSantis, an avid golfer, touted his environmental record Thursday during an appearance in Titusville.

“We have done more in our tenure, in terms of Everglades restoration, in terms of improving water quality — what we’re doing with the Indian River Lagoon, nobody’s done. It’s historic,” DeSantis said. “We also (have) done things to help beach renourishment. All these different things. And we have this massive increase in conservation, and we have this massive Florida Wildlife Corridor that we’ve created in the center part of our state, which was never done before.”

But groups such as 1000 Friends of Florida, Friends of the Everglades and Vote Water implored members to voice opposition to the proposal and attend the meetings Tuesday.

Rep. Adam Anderson, R-Palm Harbor, issued a statement that said a proposal to add up to four pickleball courts to Honeymoon Island State Park in Pinellas County “is not just foolhardy — it’s wrong.”

“These acts could aggravate ongoing environmental challenges, harm our vulnerable coastlines and estuaries, and increase the likelihood of red tide events along the Gulf (of Mexico),” Anderson said.

Republican Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson expressed a need to be careful about “building infrastructure in state parks.”

Also, Nicklaus Companies, a golf-course design firm that was involved when a similar proposal was briefly put before the Legislature in 2011, sought to distance itself from the new plan.

“Nicklaus Companies and Nicklaus Design only learned of these proposed changes to our state parks through news reports and have no involvement in any current proposals,” Nicklaus Companies said in a statement. “A prior proposal put forth by legislators in 2011 was abandoned in the face of understandable environmental and community concerns. In any event, such concerns should be addressed in an open and public process.”

The state proposal calls for a golf course at Jonathan Dickinson State Park in Martin County.

The initiative also proposes 10 additional cabins, four pickleball courts and a disc golf course at Oleta River State Park in Miami-Dade County; a lodge with up to 350 rooms at Anastasia State Park in St. Johns County; four pickleball courts at Dr. Von D. Mizell-Eula Johnson State Park in Broward County; and a disc golf course and up to four pickleball courts at Hillsborough River State Park in Hillsborough County.