Last month, thousands of Floridians protested against a Department of Environmental Protection plan to add a suite of leisure facilities to state parks, including golf courses and pickleball courts.
But a recent revelation shows that, at an earlier stage of planning, the project was far more extensive in scope, with developments being looked at in 17 additional state parks in addition to the final list of 9 that sparked protests.
Great Outdoors Initiative
DEP plans were released last month in news outlets which revealed a series of developments planned for 9 Florida state parks, which was officially titled as the ‘Great Outdoors Initiative’.
Under the plans, parks would have some of their land converted into cabins, pickleball courts, golf courses, and other leisure facilities.
Statewide Protests
But, following the publication of the plans, Florida residents spent the weekend protesting across the state in defense of their state parks.
The protestors scored a major initial victory when plans were dropped for one of the developments that had been mooted for JD Park.
U-Turn
Later, however, the whole plan appeared to have gone on hold when DeSantis released a public statement saying: “I’d rather not spend any money on this. If people don’t want improvements then we won’t do them.”
This may have come as a surprise to observers, as his press secretary had defended the plans just the previous week, saying “it’s high time we made public lands more accessible to the public.”
Latest Revelations
Now, the Tampa Bay Times have received an additional document via a public records request.
The new document reveals that the plans were much wider in scope than the public had previously been aware of.
Large Chunk of Florida Land
The document shows that a much larger chunk of Florida land was being considered at one point for the proposed developments.
In total, 26 state parks have been involved in the project at one point or another, with further plans for golf courses and other leisure facilities such as campground and disc golf.
Proposition
Although most of the parks in the new document did not make it into the ultimately revealed document last month, they demonstrate the amount of protected land that the DEP considered up for grabs.
The document, titled “Florida State Parks with additional capacity for new Recreational Opportunities,” has an extensive list of parks, along with potential amenities for each park.
Panther Pride
Highland Hammocks State Park was one of the additional parks being considered at the time the latest document was being drafted.
It is home to endangered Florida Panthers and its website describes it as containing a number of “beautifully delicate ecosystems.”
Statewide Plans
The more extensive plans mean that parks spanning almost the whole length of Florida face development proposals.
Included are pickleball courts in Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park and a lodge in North Peninsula State Park, in Volusia County.
Try, Try Again
Florida Caverns State Park, another park included in the previous plans, previously had a golf course, although it shut down back in 2018.
It would see the reintroduction of another course, along with facilities for pickleball, disc golf, and an additional campground.
