Gov. DeWhiteboots Backs Away From State Park Golf Course Plan: "I Never Saw That"

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday pulled the plug on a proposal that would have paved over native habitats and protected beaches in state parks to build golf courses, pickleball courts and large hotels. The Republican governor backed away from the controversial plan announced by his administration last week after even members of his own party protested. Hundreds demonstrated at the nine parks targeted for development.

“So this is something that was leaked,” DeSantis said at a news conference Wednesday in Winter Haven when he was asked about the plan. “It was not approved by me. I never saw that. They’re going back to the drawing board.” It was the first time DeSantis has spoken publicly about the issue. The “Great Outdoors Initiative” was announced last week by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and called for building three golf courses at Jonathan Dickinson State Park, a stretch of undeveloped land north of Palm Beach popular for its trails and birding.

The plan also proposed building new lodges with space for hundreds of guests at Anastasia State Park near St. Augustine and Topsail Hill Preserve in the Panhandle. The latter has sand dunes that the state park service describes as “especially remarkable because they are untouched by development.” DeSantis said Wednesday that “a lot of that stuff was just half baked,” and he accused a “left-wing group” of leaking the proposal. The Department of Environmental Protection touted the initiative on social media, so it’s unclear what DeSantis was referring to as a leak. His office did not return a request for comment.

After several days of public outcry, the organization that had proposed the golf courses to the environmental protection division withdrew its plans. Many of the state’s highest-ranking Republicans, including U.S. Sens. Marco Rubio and Rick Scott, and two members of DeSantis’s Cabinet, condemned the plans and also the rush by the DEP to get them approved.

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https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2024/08/28/desantis-state-parks-protest/