Florida’s Plan to Build Golf Courses on a State Park Sparks... Political Unity?

Americans can hardly agree on anything to do with politics. But in Florida, a plan that threatens multiple state parks is proving to be an exception to that rule. Recently, the office of Republican governor Ron DeSantis unveiled a proposal to develop nine popular Florida parks into golf courses, pickleball courts, and luxury hotels. The plan has brought together people of all parties—Republicans and Democrats, alike, all hate it.

“They are literally paving paradise,” Heather Meade, a St. Augustine resident, said to Thrillist. “State Parks are for the people of Florida. They are affordable and family friendly. There are plenty of hotels, condos, and golf courses in our area and no need to convert the parks.”

The plan, which the governor’s office released on August 20 as part of their Great Outdoors Initiative, details the development of pickleball courts, disc golf courses, a 350-room lodge, a “glamping area”, and golf courses. It was met with fury from Floridians of all stripes on social media. Then, Floridians came together to protest the plan on August 27 at Jonathan Dickinson State Park.

In the days after the Great Outdoor Initiative document was published, more than 47,000 people joined a Facebook group called Protect Jonathan Dickinson State Park. The group organized a protest on Tuesday, August 27 at the park, during which Democratic state representative Lindsay Cross spoke to protestors in favor of stalling the plan and protecting the park.

According to the Tampa Bay Times, Jonathan Dickinson is home to the largest amount of protected scrub-jay habitat in Southeast Florida.

In the days following its unveiling, the plan also attracted criticism from state lawmakers on both sides of the aisle. Florida’s Republican senators Marco Rubio and Rick Scott wrote in a letter that the plan’s call for a one-hour hearing was “absolutely ridiculous.”

“We believe every voting member of the (Acquisition and Restoration Council) must attend a public comment meeting before taking any action regarding the proposal,” the letter reads. “An hour-long meeting on a weekday afternoon when most people are at work will not suffice.”

The governor’s office has defended the plan as a way to attract more people to the parks with enticing recreation opportunities. “Teddy Roosevelt believed that public parks were for the benefit and enjoyment of the people, and we agree with him,” press secretary Jeremy Redfern said. “But it’s high time we made public lands more accessible to the public.”

Questioned by reporters on August 28, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said “If people don’t want improvements, then don’t do it.”

On August 27, officials scrapped the plan for the Jonathan Dickinson golf courses after Tuskegee Dunes Foundation, one of its main proponents, backed out amid growing pressure from activists. But the remaining eight state park projects remain on the table.

But opponents say they won’t stop until the other plans are axed. “We must remain vigilant and we will not stop,” Kim Begay, vice president and conservation advocate at the Clearwater Audubon Society, told the Associated Press.

Hours after the letter was released, the department posted on social media that it would be postponing all the public meetings about the state park plans.

In the last five years, Florida has been known for a politics mired in partisan squabbling. Between attacks on Disney World and book bans in schools, it seems that the state’s parks are a beacon of unity. After all, our green spaces are a public good on which we can all agree.