Florida offers more details on its controversial plan for changes at state parks

By Jim Turner ©2024 The News Service of Florida

TALLAHASSEE — As conservation groups object to the possibility of adding lodging, pickleball and golf at state parks, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection late Wednesday released information targeting what it said was “confusion” about the plan.

“Our efforts to enhance public access, recreation and accommodations are for everyone,” the department said as part of a series of online posts. “The public’s input is welcomed and always valued.”

The plan, dubbed the “Great Outdoors Initiative,” was announced Monday in a news release that provided few details while expressing a desire to expand public access to state parks. A day later, the department announced eight meetings that will be held simultaneously on Tuesday to review management plans for nine parks, from Miami-Dade County to the Panhandle.

The plan could lead to adding lodges, cabins, pickleball, disc golf and golf at parks. Groups such as 1000 Friends of Florida, Friends of the Everglades and Vote Water implored members to contact legislators, Gov. Ron DeSantis and other state officials to oppose the plan.

As an example, they targeted the possibility of adding golf at Jonathan Dickinson State Park in Martin County.

“The Jonathan Dickinson plan — in our backyard — is among the stupidest ideas we’ve ever heard,’ Vote Water said in an email. “The impact on clean water could be immense; the impact on wildlife habitat could be worse.”

1000 Friends of Florida said state parks offer passive outdoor recreational options that include “camping, hiking, birdwatching and canoeing.”

“They are not competitors for golf courses or other private recreational complexes, which are available throughout the state,” 1000 Friends of Florida said.

The Florida Springs Council is concerned about the changes as well.

In 2011, conservation groups and residents successfully fended off legislation to allow legendary golfer and golf course designer Jack Nicklaus to build courses in state parks, with Jonathan Dickinson State Park one of the targets.

The department’s posts Wednesday evening touched on plans for each of the parks:

For Jonathan Dickinson State Park, the department said “we are considering the addition of golf — one of our nation’s most popular sports — in a way that will minimize habitat impacts and leverage already-disturbed areas.”

The work would “leverage existing improved land,” which would run alongside the Florida East Coast Railway, which travels through the park, to the park’s eastern boundary along U.S. 1.

“All facilities will be designed and developed in harmony with the surrounding natural environment and will meet or exceed standards provided by the DEP/University of Florida IFAS Best Management Practices or the Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program Standards,” the department said, referring to the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences and a program that certifies golf courses for environmental protections.

• Hillsborough River State Park in Hillsborough County would get a disc golf course and up to four pickleball courts, which would be next to a swimming and bathhouse complex.
• Up to four pickleball courts are planned near a beach access at Honeymoon Island State Park in Pinellas County. A department post said the area “is already modified and can be easily converted to pickleball courts.”
• For Anastasia State Park in St. Johns County, “we’re looking for opportunities to provide more overnight accommodations, similar to the popular Wakulla Springs Lodge & other lodges at National Parks.” It said the objective is to go beyond camping through a lodge with up to 350 rooms that would be within the “functional vicinity of the Beach Access Area.”
• “To offer visitors another place to stay along the Emerald Coast,” the department’s plan for Camp Helen State Park in Bay County would add 10 cabins and a “glamping” area. Glamping is essentially a combination of the words glamorous and camping.
• For Dr. Von D. Mizell-Eula Johnson State Park in Broward County, four pickleball courts would be added on “underutilized paved area.”
• At Grayton Beach State Park in Walton County up to 10 cabins are planned within an existing cabin area, which the department said is “consistently booked.”
• At Topsail Hill Preserve State Park also in Walton County, the plans include a lodge with up to 350 rooms southwest of an existing camping area, four pickleball courts and a disc golf course in an “underutilized” area.
• At Oleta River State Park in Miami-Dade County, the plan is for 10 additional cabins south of existing cabins, four pickleball courts and a disc golf course.