NORTH MIAMI BEACH, Florida. – The Florida Department of Environmental Protection recently announced a new “Great Outdoors Initiative” to “expand public access, increase outdoor activities and provide new overnight accommodations” in the state’s public parks.

The proposal calls for more campsites, cabins and lodges on park grounds, as well as more areas for pickleball, disc golf, golf and paddle boarding. The last initiative offered 50% off annual passes and free admission on Memorial Day.

Changes are planned at nine parks, including two in South Florida: Oleta River State Park in Miami-Dade County and Dr. Von D. Mizell-Eula Johnson State Park in Broward County.

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“Some things might be OK, like pickleball and Frisbee golf. I’m not sure about hotels and golf courses,” said Sharon Soud, who visited Oleta River State Park in North Miami Beach.

According to the state Department of Environmental Conservation, the public system includes 175 parks, trails and historic sites on more than 815,000 acres and 100 miles of shoreline. These create more than 50,000 jobs and have an estimated annual economic impact of $3.6 billion. Gov. Ron DeSantis wants to increase investment, but there are Floridians who strongly oppose the proposal.

Opponents include environmentalists from the Florida Wildlife Federation, Youth Environmental Alliance, 1000 Friends of Florida, Friends of the Everglades and Vote Water.

“It’s devastating to me to hear this, especially with the construction going on. When you look around here, we are surrounded by so many different native species,” said Shannon Stratman of the Youth Environmental Alliance.

Topsail Hill Preserve and Grayton Beach in Santa Rosa Beach, Camp Helen in Panama City Beach, Jonathan Dickinson in Hobe Sound, Anastasia in St. Augustine, Honeymoon Island in Dunedin and Hillsborough River in Thonotosassa are also included in the initiative.

Among the Republicans opposing the proposal were U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, who won the Republican primary on Tuesday; Florida Senate President Kathleen Passimodo and Florida Senator Jay Trumbull.

“Our state parks should not compete with private companies,” Trumbull wrote on X.

Stratman said it was important for the public to participate in the process. Officials had planned to hold eight public meetings from 3 to 4 p.m. on Tuesday, but announced Friday that they would be postponed.

The meeting to discuss the addition of 10 cabins, four pickleball courts and a disc golf course at Oleta River State Park was scheduled at the Kovens Conference Center on Florida International University’s Biscayne Bay campus, 3000 NE 151 St., in North Miami.

The meeting to discuss changes to Dr. Von D. Mizell-Eula Johnson State Park was held at the Downtown Event Center, 416 NW First St., in Fort Lauderdale.

Here is a list of the locations of the other meetings:

• Camp Helen: The Lindell Conference Center, 423 Lyndell Lane, in Panama City Beach.
• Jonathan Dickinson: The River Room at The Flagler of Stuart, 201 W. Flagler Ave., in Stuart.
• Anastasia: The Character Counts Conference Center in Building C at First Coast Technical College, 2980 Collins Ave., in St. Augustine.
• Honeymoon Island: Suite 404 at The District, 11141 US Highway 19 N, in Clearwater.
• Hillsborough River: Community Room D at the Jimmie B. Keel Regional Library, 2902 W. Bearss Ave., in Tampa.