Critics Call for Parks Plans to be Ditched

By Jim Turner, The News Service of Florida

Environmentalists are seeking assurances that Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration has scrapped plans for a series of golf courses at Jonathan Dickinson State Park after a state spokeswoman said the proposal has been dropped.

Audubon Florida, the Sierra Club and other groups also are rallying against additional changes floated by the state Department of Environmental Protection for eight other award-winning state parks. The plans, which include a pair of resort-sized lodges, pickleball courts and disc-golf courses, have drawn fierce opposition from Democratic and Republican lawmakers.

Tuskegee Dunes Foundation, a little-known corporation linked to the Martin County park plan, announced over the weekend it would no longer pursue building the golf courses, saying “we did not understand the local community landscape and appreciate the clarity.”

A Department of Environmental Protection spokeswoman on Sunday issued a statement saying the golf-course proposal “will be removed from agency review.”

The department on Monday offered little information about the background and plans for the “Great Outdoors Initiative,” which was quietly introduced a week ago and quickly drew the wrath of local residents and pushback from state, local and federal elected officials.

 “We have yet to see any public announcement from FDEP (Florida Department of Environmental Protection) that the idea, and not just this specific plan, has been killed,” Vote Water Executive Director Gil Smart said in an email Monday.

Calling the golf course plans among the “most egregious” part of the initiative, Smart said “there are lots of other bad ideas in there too.”

Opponents of the proposal have planned a series of rallies Tuesday in St. Augustine, Miami, Stuart and Dunedin, as well as at the Florida Department of Environmental Protection headquarters in Tallahassee.

Ending the golf-course plans for the Martin County park won’t quell the uproar over the state agency’s multi-park proposal, according to Audubon Florida Executive Director Julie Wraithmell.

“I think that folks have rightfully big concerns about the proposal to put motels in Topsail Hill Preserve State Park and Anastasia State Park,” Wraithmell said. “And then there’s been a big outcry also about things like the cabins with septic tanks at Camp Helen State Park on Lake Powell, which is a coastal dune lake. It’s a really rare resource.”

The initiative proposes the construction of lodges with up to 350 rooms at both Anastasia State Park in St. Johns County and Topsail Hill Preserve State Park in Walton County. The Topsail Hill plans also include four pickleball courts and a disc golf course in an “underutilized” area.

Additional cabins, pickleball or disc golf are also on the agenda for Oleta River State Park in Miami-Dade County, Honeymoon Island State Park in Pinellas County, Camp Helen State Park in Bay County, Dr. Von D. Mizell-Eula Johnson State Park in Broward County, Grayton Beach State Park in Walton County and Hillsborough River State Park in Hillsborough County.

DeSantis’ spokesman Jeremy Redfern last week said the proposal was intended to make the parks “more visitor-friendly.”

“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,” Redfern said Thursday.

Former Senate president Don Gaetz, a Fort Walton Beach Republican who is running to regain his seat in the Legislature, blamed the department for the turmoil and questioned the potential use of private entities to run state park amenities.

“We Republicans entrusted by the people to operate state government believe in free enterprise and private ownership and we’re against government using taxpayer-owned assets to compete against tax paying citizens trying to earn a living,” Gaetz wrote in an opinion essay published Monday.

The Department of Environmental Protection on Friday postponed meetings that had been scheduled to take place this week, saying that officials were scouting for “new venues to accommodate the public” and that the meetings could be rescheduled to be held the week of Sept. 2.

As opposition to the Jonathan Dickinson State Park golf course intensified, the Tuskegee Dunes Foundation on Sunday announced it would no longer pursue the project.

“Working with the state of Florida, we explored Jonathan Dickinson State Park at the location of a dilapidated military facility,” a release from Tuskegee Dunes said. “We sought improvements that would invite families to enjoy the great game of golf, while honoring minority veterans and enhancing the natural beauty of Florida’s beloved environment. We have received clear feedback that Jonathan Dickinson State Park is not the right location.”

Jonathan Dickinson State Park was used for top-secret radar training during World War II. Called Camp Murphy, the facility was closed in 1944, turned over to the state in 1947 and became a state park in 1950. Few aspects of the camp remain visible today to park visitors.

The Tuskegee Dune Foundation was incorporated in Delaware in August 2021, according to Delaware state records.

Department of Environmental Protection spokeswoman Alexandra Kuchta said Sunday that the Tuskegee Dune Foundation’s “plan to honor the Tuskegee Airmen was noble.”

“We appreciate their decision to pursue projects outside of the park and will continue to support the Foundation’s mission,” she said in a statement.