“Our vision did not include expansion with golf courses and hotels because these … are incompatible with the peaceful and quiet enjoyment of nature,” said State Senate President Kathleen Passidomo.
Golf courses in Florida state parks?
US Congressman Brian Mast speaks about golf course proposals at Jonathan Dickinson State Park
Some Republican lawmakers are criticizing a controversial proposal to add lodges, pickleball courts and golf courses to state parks, while Governor Ron DeSantis’ office on Thursday defended the idea of making the facilities more “visitor-friendly.”
The Florida Department of Environmental Protection announced the proposal, called the Great Outdoors Initiative, this week and said it will hold eight meetings on Tuesday to review management plans for nine parks from Miami-Dade County to the Panhandle.
Environmental groups immediately criticized the initiative and were supported on Thursday by numerous Republican lawmakers, including Senate President Kathleen Passidomo, a leading proponent of the creation of a statewide wildlife corridor.
“We have worked hard to improve our state parks with the goal of protecting and preserving natural habitats and increasing access to passive recreational activities such as hiking, biking or canoeing,” Passidomo, R-Naples, said on the social media site X.
“Our vision did not include golf courses and hotels, which I believe are incompatible with the peaceful and tranquil enjoyment of nature. I am open to other ideas, but based on my current knowledge, the proposal should not be pursued in its current form.”
Senator Jay Trumbull, a Republican from Panama City whose northwest Florida district includes three of the affected state parks, called the proposal “unnecessary development.”
The initiative proposes a lodge with up to 350 rooms, as well as 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 call for the construction of 10 cabins. Camp Helen State Park may also have a “glamping” area. Glamping is essentially a combination of the words “glamorous” and “camping.”
The initiative also proposes:
- Ten more 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 in Anastasia State Park in St. Johns County.
- Four pickleball courts at Dr. Von D. Mizell-Eula Johnson State Park in Broward County.
- A disc golf course and up to four pickleball courts at Hillsborough River State Park in Hillsborough County.
“I strongly oppose the proposed expansion of state parks to include golf courses and related facilities in our state parks, particularly at Camp Helen, Topsail Hill Preserve and Grayton Beach State Parks, which were affected by the first expansion and are of tremendous importance to our district,” Trumbull wrote.
“Our state parks should not compete with private companies when it comes to providing accommodations or other commercial amenities,” he added.
But DeSantis spokesman Jeremy Redfern said there will be “multiple phases” of public discussion to get feedback. He said the proposed changes may not all be approved and the Department of Environmental Protection is looking for ways to make the parks “more visitor-friendly.”
“Teddy Roosevelt believed that public parks should be for the benefit and enjoyment of the people, and we agree with him,” Redfern said in a statement.
“No government has done more than we need to do to protect Florida’s natural resources, create conservation areas and keep our environment pristine. But it’s high time we made public lands more accessible to the public.”
DeSantis, an avid golfer, boasted about his environmental record during an appearance in Titusville on Thursday.
“We have done more in our time in terms of restoring the Everglades and improving water quality – what we are doing with the Indian River Lagoon, no one has ever done. It is historic,” DeSantis said.
“We’ve also done beach replenishment,” he continued. “All these different things. And we’ve massively increased conservation and created this huge Florida Wildlife Corridor in the center of our state, which has never been done before.”
But groups such as 1000 Friends of Florida, Friends of the Everglades and Vote Water urged their members to voice their opposition to the proposal and attend meetings on Tuesday.
Republican Rep. Adam Anderson of Palm Harbor issued a statement saying the proposal to add up to four pickleball courts to Honeymoon Island State Park in Pinellas County is “not just foolhardy – it’s wrong.”
“These actions could exacerbate existing environmental problems, harm our sensitive coastlines and estuaries, and increase the likelihood of red tides in the Gulf (of Mexico),” Anderson said.
Republican Agriculture Secretary Wilton Simpson called for caution when “building infrastructure in state parks.”
Nicklaus Companies, a golf course design firm that was involved when a similar proposal was briefly presented to Congress in 2011, also 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 are not involved in the current proposals,” Nicklaus Companies said in a statement. “A previous proposal by the legislature in 2011 was rejected in light of understandable environmental and community concerns. In any event, such concerns should be addressed in an open and public process.”
The state’s proposal calls for a golf course at Jonathan Dickinson State Park in Martin County, prompting Republican U.S. Rep. Brian Mast to post on X: “Over my dead body there will be a golf course at Jonathan Dickinson State Park!” Mast, who represents the region in Congress, is a U.S. Army veteran who lost both legs in Afghanistan.
Fellow Republican congressman Matt Gaetz, who represents the state’s western panhandle, also posted on X: “We do NOT need to commercialize our state parks. We should keep them natural, thriving and beautiful. Signed: Florida Man.”
USA TODAY Network-Florida staff contributed reporting.
