Following protests, DeSantis says plan to develop state parks is ‘going back to the drawing board’
TALLAHASSEE, Florida — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Wednesday that a controversial proposal by his administration to develop golf courses and pickleball courts in state parks is “going back to the drawing board.”
When questioned by reporters on Wednesday, DeSantis attempted to distance himself from the plan, prompting hundreds of protesters to collect in the parks and led to rare bipartisan oppositionincluding Republican Senators Marco Rubio and Rick Scott of Florida.
“If people don’t want improvements, don’t do it,” DeSantis said. “They’re not doing anything this year. They’re going to go back and just listen to people.”
The Republican governor’s Department of Environmental Protection unveiled the plans last week and scheduled an hour-long public hearing near the nine affected parks. Amid growing outrage, a proposal for a golf course in a park was rejectedand the agency postponed the hearings until at least next week, if they take place at all.
The plan for golf courses at Jonathan Dickinson State Park in southeast Florida was scrapped before the governor’s statements Wednesday. The development’s main proponent, a nonprofit called the Tuskegee Dunes Foundation, withdrew from the plan over the weekend.
DeSantis spokesman Jeremy Redfern praised the proposal as a necessary step to expand recreational opportunities in the state.
“Teddy Roosevelt believed that public parks were for the benefit and enjoyment of the people, and we agree with him. No administration has done more than we have to conserve Florida’s natural resources, grow protected areas and keep our environment pristine,” Redfern said in a statement to The Associated Press last week. “But it’s high time we make public lands more accessible to the public.”
But DeSantis attempted to distance himself from the proposal on Wednesday by breaking his public silence on the issue.
“It wasn’t approved by me. I never saw that,” DeSantis said. “A lot of that stuff was just half-baked and not ready for prime time.”
A DEP spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday.
Opposition to what the governor “Great Outdoors Initiative” has crossed party lines in a state often fiercely divided by partisan politics. Top Republican legislative leaders and members of Congress have raised questions, along with Democrats and environmental groups such as the Sierra Club and the Cleo Institute.
It’s rare for DeSantis to face opposition from Republican lawmakers, and he has a reputation for retaliating when he does.
But it appears a political line has been drawn around Florida’s state parks. Advocates say they are a bastion of wilderness in a state where long stretches of sandy beaches and mangrove forests have long since given way to condominiums, motels and shopping mall souvenir shops.
“We are grateful that the governor listened to Floridians and their belief that the natural resources of our state parks are a top priority,” said Julie Wraithmell, executive director of Audubon Florida.
Hundreds of protesters gathered Tuesday at state parks and DEP headquarters in Tallahassee to voice their opposition to the plans. About 150 people gathered at a rally outside Honeymoon Island State Park on the central Gulf Coast, where the plan calls for pickleball courts to be built near pristine white-sand beaches. Many of the protesters carried signs with slogans such as “Save Don’t Pave” and “Parks Over Profit.”
“After eight days of public outcry, DeSantis was forced to abandon plans to develop nine state parks in Florida — a huge kudos to all who rallied in opposition. That said, we will not rest easy until the so-called Great Outdoors Initiative is dead and gone,” said Eve Samples, executive director of Friends of the Everglades. “We will remain vigilant in defending Florida’s natural areas, waters and wildlife.”
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Anderson reported from St. Petersburg, Florida.
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Kate Payne is a staff member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-reported issues.