Keep Florida's state parks pristine, environmentalists urge as plan unfolds

Environmentalists are outraged at the idea of putting cabins, golf courses and pickleball courts in Florida's state parks, saying these natural areas already get plenty of traffic and need to be preserved, not developed.

The “Great Outdoors Initiative” was released this week by the state Department of Environmental Protection, which said it would "keep up with increasing demand" and "take the visitor experience to the next level with additions like a lodge, pickleball and disc golf" at various state parks.

The Sierra Club and the Audubon Society have come out strongly against the proposal.

"I think Floridians are rightfully scratching their heads and saying, wait a minute, why?" said Julie Wraithmell, executive director of Audubon Florida.

"None of these parks are underutilized. In fact, they are some of the busiest parks in the state park system."

Keep the natural spaces as they are

Wraithmell and other environmental leaders say wild spaces need to be kept separate from human activities like golf and pickleball, which are already abundant across Florida, as are places for tourists to stay.

"You can't climb to the top of the dune tower at Jonathan Dickinson State Park anywhere. You can't watch migratory songbirds flying in off the Gulf after their non-stop 20-hour flight from the Yucatan in the spring like you can at Honeymoon," said Wraithmell.

"These are special places that are increasingly rare in Florida, and they're not improved by a golf course or by a continental breakfast or by a pickleball court."

The Sierra Club is also mobilizing its members to speak at the meetings, and call or write their representatives.

"We don't believe these activities belong in our state parks," said Kira Barrera, conservation chair of Suncoast Sierra Club.

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At Honeymoon Island, which gets around a million visitors per year, pickleball would mean adding paved surfaces — and that goes against what park managers say is best for the land.

"This proposition goes in direct conflict with the land use management plan that was just approved in 2022 for Honeymoon Island," said Barrera.

"They discussed acceptable recreational activities and potential secondary uses for the park and and one of the things they specifically called out was limiting impervious surfaces, and that's what pickleball is."

"So that's going to impact drainage and green space and runoff and erosion," Barrera said. "It's also going to create more traffic in the park, which they've struggled with in the past, and also create noise pollution."

A draft plan for Hillsborough River State Park would add a disc golf course and pickleball.

The public can offer their input

The DEP had scheduled public meetings for Tuesday but announced that they will be postponed.

The DEP did not specify a date, but said they would be held next week.

The agency also launched a form where people can weigh in on their thoughts for specific parks.

"We've had so many members calling and writing to us, asking us to help and what can they do to help prevent this from happening," said Barrera.

She urged people to come and speak at a meeting if they can. If not, "they can email their representatives and call offices."

A similar swell of support for nature turned back state plans to add a series of golf courses in 2011.

"I believe in our style of government, which is that our elected officials serve at the behest of their constituents," said Wraithmell.

"And I'm really proud of Floridians who are exercising that right right now and are speaking up and saying this isn't right, and this isn't how we want our state parks to look or be operated."