A Win for Florida’s Threatened State Parks

Last month the hard work of hundreds of thousands of citizens paid off. If you have already spoken up for Florida's State Parks, relax and enjoy this victory in round one. You earned it! If you have yet to act, please take a moment and continue this critical effort to protect Florida's State Parks for the long term.

Recently Florida Governor Ron Desantis and his Florida Department of Environmental Protection created the "Great Outdoors Initiative" for Florida State Parks. It contained development proposals for projects in state parks including golf courses, 350 room resorts, pickleball courts, and disc golf courses.

After hundreds of thousands of citizens, from around Florida and around the country, spoke out against the Great Outdoors Initiative and threats to Florida's State Parks from golf courses and resorts, the state of Florida had to retreat. That happened because of you.

They were hoping the people would miss this until it was too late to oppose it. They did not even consult the Park Staff who manage the nine parks targeted! Luckily, this effort to develop Florida's State Parks leaked to the media, and a firestorm of controversy ensued. The Florida DEP employee, James Gaddis, who became a whistleblower and leaked the proposals to protect state parks was fired. He is one of the heroes in this whole debacle.

The other heroes are the conservation groups, reporters, citizens, and elected officials who expanded this into one of the most significant conservation issues in Florida, in years!

After overwhelming and unrelenting opposition, Governor Desantis and Florida DEP announced that Florida 'will be going back to the drawing board' and revising their plan to develop state parks. The problem is that the very drawing board they will use is the same one that created the first proposal. And while the proposal for golf courses seems to have been withdrawn, nothing is official or permanent yet.

One of the most outrageous aspects of this disaster for Governor Desantis and Florida DEP was the backroom secrecy and questionable tactics that led up to it. Members of Florida's Congressional Delegation are now calling for investigations to uncover the true way this unfolded.

Bad ideas never die in Florida, they just slink away and wait for another round of officials to dust them off and try again. A similar attempt to develop Florida State Parks occurred in 2011. A similar attempt could happen again. Florida DEP has discussed bringing back some version of this proposal next year. That is four months from now. We must keep paying attention and speaking.

So, for the moment rejoice! The people spoke up loudly and clearly for wildlife and were heard. What you did mattered. That is a wonderful feeling. Now let us commit to the long-term effort to ensure that these types of threats to Florida's state parks are forever relegated to the dustbin of history.

Grayton Beach State Park. Credit: Paul Asman/Jill Lenoble

While we are waiting and watching, visit one of Florida's state parks and immerse yourself in what is at stake. Grayton Beach State Park offers some of the best beaches in Florida. You can still enjoy it as it is. Topsail Hill Preserve State Park offers what might be the most beautiful beach anywhere in the Gulf of Mexico. See it now before the 350 room resort that Governor Desantis and Florida DEP proposed (and which is still in their Great Outdoors Initiative and on that annoying drawing board).

Get out there and enjoy Florida State Parks soon. Get some mud, sand, or sun on you. Catch a fish, watch some birds, and enjoy a manatee sighting. Make a Florida State Park memory with your family. Celebrate a little good news for wildlife.

Then stay tuned to NWF's Action Alerts, updates, and blog posts. Let us make sure, with continued focus and action, that the Florida DEP drawing board they work on for Governor Desantis never produces something this bad ever again.

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