The Great Outdoors Initiative is off the table.
Earlier this month, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection announced a controversial plan to build pickleball courts, golf courses, and lodging at state parks.
At a press conference in Polk County Wednesday, Governor Ron DeSantis, who heads up the FDEP, says he’d “rather not spend any money” on the plan.
“They’re not doing anything this year, they’re gonna go back and basically listen to folks. A lot of that stuff was just half-baked and not ready for prime time,” DeSantis said.
This comes after hundreds of people have rallied against development in parks across the state, including a protest yesterday at Honeymoon Island in Dunedin.
Cris Costello is the senior organizing manager for Sierra Club Florida. She calls this a victory for wildlife in the state.
“Everyone was in an outrage, and they came out, and called on DeSantis to call it off, and look what he did!” Costello said.
Costello says advocates will keep fighting to protect Florida’s parks.
“We will do it again, we will kill it again if anyone dares to raise it from the dead.” Costello said.
The plan got bipartisan pushback, including state senate president Kathleen Passidomo and senators Marco Rubio and Rick Scott.
