Living in Florida for the last decade, I’ve seen a lot of things. It’s true that it’s different than “up north”, but the happenings are also not usually as crazy as mainstream media will have you think. There’s a reason why the “Florida Man” stereotype exists, but you’re not going to find him everywhere in the state. In fact, Florida has a lot of beautiful things its residents should be very proud of. The state parks system being one of the crown jewels.
That’s why it’s a bit dismaying that there’s a “Great Outdoors Initiative” coming from the state and Governor Ron DeSantis that includes plans to build large lodges, golf courses, and pickleball courts on state park land.
As bad a reputation the Floridians get outside of the state, it is nice to see that this proposal is pretty much being universally criticized, panned, and protested by the residents. Democrats, Republicans, it doesn’t matter. Nobody wants to mess with the Florida state parks, regardless of how unobtrusive the Florida Department of Environmental Protection is spinning the plans to be.
My opinion? I’m against the proposal as-is.
The headline of “using state lands to build golf courses?” That’s horrible. Even if they are publicly accessible, I can tell you one thing Florida does not need is more golf courses.
I do find that some of the smaller infrastructure improvements like building small cabins or disc golf courses that are unobtrusive to the landscape could be agreeable if achieved with minimal habitat disruption.
There’s likely a middle ground to be reached somewhere. Although in today’s society of the vocal “far left and right”, hearing anything from the middle is a rarity.
It’s bad enough that acres of forested private lands seemingly get razed on a daily basis to accommodate the growing housing & commercial needs of Florida’s growing population. I can’t actually be too critical, having moved to a cookie cutter suburban community that was formerly a hammock of longleaf pines. I know every time a swath of trees is cut down the resident wildlife is being displaced. Even my in my own backyard.
But those were and are private lands, not public, so let’s be very careful of what we choose to do with the few islands of unadulterated acreage the state has left. Florida is a special place and the bit of wildness it maintains needs to be preserved.
Meetings to hear the public’s input are going to be (re)scheduled for the week of September 2nd, 2024. (Presumably to find suitable locations to field the voluminous outcry).
I trust “Florida Man” will do the right thing, one can only hope the state government will follow.
Sign the Florida Wildlife Federation‘s Petition to Governor DeSantis, the Secretary of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, as well as your state representatives to halt this development HERE.