Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has traditionally enjoyed strong support from conservatives in his state, but recently, he learned that support has some limitations.
The Republican governor has proposed to build lodging, pickleball courts and golf courses at some of the state’s parks, but people from both sides of the political aisle have lashed out at that plan.
Florida has a huge system of state parks that protect the natural habitat, including the many forests and waterways. While many people can enjoy all the beauty these parks have to offer now, a large majority of the public believes they should stay as they are — not be turned into places for other type of sporting recreation.
Part of the reason for the backlash could be the fact that the state Department of Environmental Protection unveiled its original proposal only one week before it scheduled public meetings to be held on the proposal.
The plans, which would add amenities to nine of the state parks, were set to be discussed at nine separate meetings — all of which were scheduled to be held spread across the state on the same day and at the same time.
Many people believed this was purposefully set up this way so that people couldn’t organize and express their opposition to the plans — specifically, environmental groups who were likely to have a problem with the proposals.
Public outcry ultimately forced the DEP to postpone those meetings, but the opposition was still quite loud. Protests were held earlier this week to raise awareness of the proposals.
Ultimately, DeSantis announced that his administration would be dropping what it called the “Great Outdoors Initiative.” As he announced:
“If the people don’t want improvements, then we won’t do them.”
Part of the problem with the proposals that the DeSantis administration was making was that the improvements weren’t going to be in line with the other activities that people currently enjoy at state parks.
Camping, hiking, biking, swimming, kayaking, horseback riding and more activities are quiet and allow people to enjoy their surroundings in a more natural way. What DeSantis was proposing was not quiet at all — pickleball courts for a sport that’s played using a racket.
While pickleball is one of the fastest-growing sports in America, it’s also noisy, more so than tennis or golf.
The proposals varied at different state parks in Florida.
Oleta River State Park, which is located in Miami-Dade County, would have seen 10 new cabins added, along with four pickleball courts. Dr. Von D. Mizell-Eula Johnson State Park located in Broward County would have seen four new pickleball courts added.
Even in very conservative parts of the state, residents opposed the plans there, which included a lodge with 350 units at St. Johns County’s Anastasia State Park and Santa Rosa County’s Topsail State Park.
The proposals simply didn’t seem to align with what normally happens at a state park, which is why the opposition was likely so strong. As Cris Costello, the senior organizing manager of the Sierra Club, said this week to the editorial board of the Miami Herald:
“None of the proposals adhere to taxpayers’ understanding of what a state park is.”
