Surprise proposal to add golf, pickleball and more to Florida State Parks faces backlash

A proposal to convert sections of several protected Florida State Parks to golf courses, lodges and other non-traditional park amenities has started to garner plenty of opposition after the surprise “Great Outdoors Initiative” was announced on August 19 by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.

The most eye-popping changes might be the introduction of 45 holes of golf to Jonathan Dickinson State Park, an 11,500-acre park in Martin County near Jupiter in southeast Florida that features sandy dunes – the kind of land frequently coveted by golf developers.

The Department of Environmental Protection released the plans on social media after they were initially leaked. With no detailed description of the golf plans, a map included in the official release shows the proposed courses (shown in pink below).

Equally eye-popping is that the proposals appear to many observers to have come out of thin air, with no public input in the development of plans to this point. U.S. Rep. Brian Mast, R-Palm City, a staunch environmental defender of the nearby St. Lucie River, told The Palm Beach Post that park proposals came without any forewarning.

“Nobody that I spoke to in government had heard literally one thing about this,” Mast said during an interview at Jonathan Dickinson on Thursday. “Everyone was taken by surprise.”

After several days of silence, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’s spokesman responded to criticism this week with statements on social media indicating the proposed changes are all about public access and utilization of the parks.

“The Department of Environmental Protection and the Division of Parks are looking at recommendations for ways to enhance Florida’s parks to make them more visitor-friendly.”

This is not the first time golf was proposed in Jonathan Dickinson State Park. Legislative initiatives in 2011 included a Jack Nicklaus-designed course at the park, but those plans were quickly swept away after substantial public criticism.

There are more than 1,300 golf courses in Florida, which has been dubbed in many marketing efforts as the Golf Capital of the World. The majority of Florida’s golf courses offer public access.

Florida operates 175 state parks within environments ranging from upland scrub to aquatic shorelines, with parks ranging in size from a handful of acres to more than 75,000 acres. Typical amenities might include campsites, cabins and trails, most constructed with a goal of minimizing human impact while providing recreational and educational opportunities. They are operated by the Florida Park Service, a division of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.

Some aspects of the Park Service’s historic mission could change if the new proposals are carried out. The proposed plans also include the introduction of pickleball, disc golf, paddling, cabins and lodges with as many as 350 rooms.

Changes have been proposed at nine parks around the state. As required by law, the DEP has scheduled a series of public meetings on August 27 in each county where park changes have been proposed. But those mostly simultaneous, in-person-only meetings will be limited to one hour with public speakers limited to three minutes of comments each. Opponents say the limited comment period indicates the rushed meetings are insufficient and that a wide range of comments isn’t valued.

DeSantis is a frequent golfer. Comments by Redfern, DeSantis’ press secretary, included the following:

“There will be multiple phases of public discussion to evaluate stakeholders’ feedback. The agency’s initial recommendations are based on public input and proposals—from pickleball to golf to additional bike trails and camping access; the proposals vary and may not all be approved.

“Finally, recommendations will be evaluated, and no final decisions will be made until the public comment and review process has been completed.”