In the face of growing public outrage, the nonprofit group leading a plan to build three golf courses at Jonathan Dickinson State Park backed away from the plan over the weekend.
While the decision was welcomed by critics of the plan, questions remain about what else the Department of Environmental Protection has in mind for the park and the plight of eight other state parks.
The Tuskegee Dunes Foundation, the group behind the Dickinson project, wrote in an emailed statement, “We have received clear feedback that Jonathan Dickinson State Park is not the right location. We do not understand the local community's situation and appreciate the clarification. We will not be building in beloved Jonathan Dickinson State Park.”
The foundation said the proceeds would be used “to support the families of military and first responders.”
“Working with the State of Florida, we explored Jonathan Dickinson State Park, which sits on the site of a dilapidated military installation. We explored improvements that would allow families to enjoy great golf while honoring minority veterans and enhancing the natural beauty of Florida's beloved environment.”
The nonprofit's website is a single landing page that doesn't include any information about its officers, history, mission, or contact information.
The DEP did not respond to questions about whether there are other efforts to replace the Tuskegee Dunes Golf Plan at Jonathan Dickinson State Park, nor did it respond to questions about the origins of the proposals or whether other stakeholders are involved.
What remains a concern for many are plans to build pickleball courts, hotels and other recreational facilities at eight other state parks, plans that remained in place as of Monday, a week after the Florida Department of Environmental Protection's Great Outdoors initiative was announced.
The plan calls for up to four pickleball courts to be installed at Dr. Von D. Mizell Eula Johnson State Park (formerly John U. Lloyd Beach State Park) in Hollywood, and four pickleball courts, a glamping site and a disc golf course at Oleta River State Park south of Aventura.
Public meetings at each of the nine affected state parks were originally scheduled for Tuesday, but after “overwhelming public interest,” the DEP wrote on Twitter that the official dates for the meetings are now scheduled for the week of Sept. 2.
Protests continued Tuesday at four state parks: Anastasia State Park in St. Augustine, Oleta River State Park in North Miami Beach, Jonathan Dickinson State Park in Stuart and Honeymoon Island State Park in Dunedin.
Catalina Lemaitre, founder of Mothers for Nature, which is helping facilitate Tuesday's demonstration at Oleta River State Park, said the state park could be “lost forever” if people don't continue to show up and speak out.
“Once a recreation spot is installed, there's no going back,” she said. “It's not something that can be undone.”
Nan Rich, a former state senator and current Broward County commissioner, said removing the golf course is a good first step, but other proposals such as disc golf and pickleball courts also don't belong in a state park — a view shared by many Floridians.
“I can't believe the bipartisan unity of the opposition,” she said. “This is the first time I've seen so many people react and unite to say this is not what we want in a long time.”
The opposition has been marked by bipartisanship from the start, with politicians such as Republican Rep. Brian Mast waging fierce opposition to the Great Outdoors plan, including by filing petitions.
“We don't know what's going to happen next so we must remain vigilant. Don't let your guard down and let them fool you,” Mast tweeted Monday.
Audubon Florida Executive Director Julie Racemell said canceling the golf course plan at Martin County Park won't quell the uproar over the state's multi-park proposal.
“I think people have understandably had great concerns about proposals to build motels in Topsail Hill Preserve State Park and Anastasia State Park,” Raismell said, “and there's also been great outcry about things like the septic cabins at Camp Helen State Park on Lake Powell, which is a coastal dune lake. Lake Powell is a really valuable resource.”
The plan also proposes building lodges with up to 350 rooms at both Anastasia State Park in St. Johns County and Topsail Hill Conservation State Park in Walton County. The plan for Topsail Hill Conservation State Park also includes four pickleball courts and a disc golf course in an “underutilized” area.
Jeremy Redfern, a spokesman for Gov. Ron DeSantis, said last week that the proposal is aimed at making the parks “more visitor-friendly.”
“No administration has ever done more to protect Florida's natural resources, expand protected areas and keep our environment clean, but it's time to make our public lands more accessible to the public,” Gov. Redfern said Thursday.
An ambiguous process
Much remains unclear about how the controversial plan for the nine parks took shape. Eric Draper, former director of Florida's State Parks Department, said the process for bringing amenities like paddleboards to state parks typically involves the state reaching out to businesses that can fill the need.
It's still unclear how the Great Outdoors initiative came to fruition, but Draper explained that the Parks Department “would never let just any business come in and say, 'I want to get a piece of the park and build and run something myself. I want to use your land to run my own business.' We'd say, 'No, we don't do that.'”
Will the withdrawal of the golf course plan have a knock-on effect on other proposals? Draper said he hopes the DeSantis administration “got the message.”
DeSantis has not directly commented on the tensions over the park, but his Department of Environmental Protection has launched a social media campaign defending the plan.
Draper hopes the DEP will change its priorities. “We haven't built any new state parks since 2017,” he says. “Since then, we've added millions of people to our state. We need more places to go to the beach. We need more beach parks, more spring parks. I hope that this experience will encourage the governor and the DEP to focus on increasing the number of state parks to keep up with our growing population.”
Jim Turner of the Florida Press Agency contributed to this report.
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