Opponents stage protests against Florida state parks development plans pushed by DeSantis

DUNEDIN, Florida — Opponents of a plan by Gov. Ron DeSantis to build golf courses, hotels, pickleball courts and other developments in Florida state parks held protests at several locations Tuesday as pressure on the proposal increases.

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 rejected and the agency postponed the hearings for at least a week, if they take place at all.

“It’s just antithetical to what our parks stand for,” Democratic state Rep. Lindsey Cross said ahead of a rally outside Honeymoon Island State Park on the central Gulf Coast, where the plan calls for pickleball courts to be built near pristine sugar-sand beaches. “It’s a place to slow down, to reconnect with nature.”

About 150 people gathered at the Honeymoon Island event, many carrying signs with slogans such as “Save Don’t Pave” and “Parks Over Profit.” Similar protests took place Tuesday at three other parks and at the state DEP headquarters in Tallahassee.

“The reason this all happened was to profit off our state parks,” said Jeff Gaw, a city councillor in Dunedin, which is connected to Honeymoon Island by a causeway. “It’s just misguided.”

Opposition to what the governor “Great Outdoors Initiative” has crossed party lines, with top Republican legislative leaders and GOP U.S. Sens. Rick Scott and Marco Rubio asking questions, along with Democrats and environmental groups such as the Sierra Club and Cleo Institute.

Florida has 175 state parks covering some 800,000 acres (320,000 hectares) in all regions of the state. Some are known as the best beaches in the country and have resisted previous attempts to develop them.

“We must remain vigilant and we will not stop,” said Kim Begay, vice president and conservation advocate at the Clearwater Audubon Society.

Emails seeking comment from DeSantis’ office and the DEP were not immediately returned Tuesday. The governor’s office has defended the plan as a way to attract more people to the parks by offering golf, pickleball, disc golf and even a pair of 350-room hotels.

Still, the overall plan remains on the table. One proposal for golf courses at Jonathan Dickinson State Park in southeast Florida was scrapped after its main proponent, a nonprofit called the Tuskegee Dunes Foundation, withdrew amid mounting opposition to the proposal.

Tuskegee Dunes, which was intended to honor the famous World War II Tuskegee Airmen All-Black Unithad pledged to avoid environmentally sensitive areas in the park and donate proceeds to another nonprofit, Folds of Honor, which provides scholarships to military and first responders.

Dunedin resident Michelle Birnbaum says it’s wrong to view wild areas as wasted space.

“Green space is an economic asset,” she said at the Honeymoon Island rally. “Our parks are in the business of parks.”