After mounting public outrage, the nonprofit behind the scheme to build three golf courses in Jonathan Dickinson State Park withdrew their plans over the weekend. Though the decision was welcomed by critics of the plan, questions over what else the Department of Environmental Protection might have in mind for the park, as well as the plight of eight other state parks remain. In an emailed statement, the Tuskegee Dunes Foundation, the group behind the Dickinson plan, wrote: “We have received clear feedback that Jonathan Dickinson State Park is the not the right location.
We did not understand the local community landscape and appreciate the clarity. We will not pursue building in the beloved Jonathan Dickinson State Park.” According to the foundation, the proceeds would have gone “to support military and first responders’ families.
” “Working with the state of Florida, we explored Jonathan Dickinson State Park at the location of a dilapidated military facility. We sought improvements that would invite families to enjoy the great game of golf, while honoring minority veterans and enhancing the natural beauty of Florida’s beloved environment.” The nonprofit’s website, a single landing page, does not contain any information on board members, history, mission, or contact information.
The DEP has not responded to questions about whether there are other initiatives that could replace the Tuskegee Dunes golf plan in Jonathan Dickinson State Park. The agency also did not respond to questions about the genesis of the proposals or what other concessionaries may be at play. What still remains a concern to many are the plans for pickleball courts, hotels and other recreational elements in eight other state parks.
As of Monday, a week after the Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s Great Outdoors initiative was announced , those plans remain intact. The plan calls for Dr. Von D.
Mizell-Eula Johnson State Park in Hollywood, formerly known as John U. Lloyd Beach State Park, to get up to four pickleball courts, and Oleta River State Park south of Aventura to get four pickleball courts, glamping facilities and a disc golf course. Public meetings for each of the nine affected state parks had originally been slated for Tuesday, but after “overwhelming public interest,” the DEP wrote on X , formerly known as Twitter, the official dates of the meeting are now planned for the week of Sept.
2. Protests are still being held Tuesday at four of the 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, the founder of Moms in Defense of Nature, which will help facilitate Tuesday’s demonstration at Oleta River State Park, said that if people don’t continue showing and speaking up, the state parks could be “lost forever.” “Once these rec spots are in, we don’t get a do-over,” she said. “This is not something that we can reverse.
” Nan Rich, a former state senator and current Broward County commissioner, said that though the golf course withdrawal is a good first step, none of the other proposals, such as disc golf and pickleball courts, belong in the state parks, either — an opinion shared by many in Florida. “It is kind of unbelievable just the bipartisan nature of the opposition,” she said. “It’s one of the first times in a long time when I’ve seen so many people react and come together and say no this is not what we want.
” Bipartisanship has defined the opposition since the start, with politicians such as Republican U.S. Rep.
Brian Mast generating a barrage of opposition to the Great Outdoors plan, including a petition . “We must stay vigilant because we do not know what happens next. We can’t let them pull a fast one by letting our guard down,” Mast tweeted on Monday.
Ending the golf-course plans for the Martin County park won’t quell the uproar over the state agency’s multi-park proposal, according to Audubon Florida Executive Director Julie Wraithmell. “I think that folks have rightfully big concerns about the proposal to put motels in Topsail Hill Preserve State Park and Anastasia State Park,” Wraithmell said. “And then there’s been a big outcry also about things like the cabins with septic tanks at Camp Helen State Park on Lake Powell, which is a coastal dune lake.
It’s a really rare resource.” The initiative also proposes the construction of lodges with up to 350 rooms at both Anastasia State Park in St. Johns County and Topsail Hill Preserve State Park in Walton County.
The Topsail Hill plans also include four pickleball courts and a disc golf course in an “underutilized” area. Gov. Ron DeSantis’ spokesman Jeremy Redfern last week said the proposal was intended to make the parks “more visitor-friendly.
” “No administration has done more than we have to conserve Florida’s natural resources, grow conservation lands, and keep our environment pristine. But it’s high time we made public lands more accessible to the public,” Redfern said Thursday. As for how the controversial plan for the nine parks took shape, much is unclear.
Eric Draper, a former director of the Florida Park Service, said the process for bringing a feature to a state park, such as paddle boarding, would typically involve the state reaching out to a vendor to fill a need. Though the process for how the Great Outdoors initiative came together is still unclear, Draper explained the parks service “would never just have a concessionaire come and say, ‘I want to take a piece of the park, and I want build something and operate it on my own. I want use your land to operate my business.
We would say, ‘No, we’re not going to do that.'” Will the withdrawal of the golf course plans act as a domino for the other proposals? Draper said he hopes DeSantis’ administration has “gotten the message.” DeSantis has not commented directly on the tension over the parks.
His DEP, however, has embarked on a social media campaign defending the plans. Draper hopes the DEP shifts their priorities. “We have not had a new state park since 2017,” he said.
“We’ve grown as a state by millions of people since then. We need to create more places for people to go to the beach. We need more beach parks, we need more springs parks.
And I would hope that from this experience that the governor and DEP focus their attention instead on matching our population growth with a growth in the number of our state parks.” Jim Turner of the News Service of Florida contributed to this report..
