DeSantis says Florida will ‘go back to the drawing board’ on state park project

WINTER HAVEN — Gov. Ron DeSantis broke his days of silence Wednesday on the controversy that has erupted over his administration’s plans to build golf courses, pickleball courts, hotels and more in Florida state parks, saying the state would go “back to the drawing board” on the idea.

Since their unveiling last week, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s proposals have struck a chord in the state, sparking widespread condemnation from Republican and Democratic politicians alike, as well as days of protests from outraged Floridians across the state. Artists have created “Keep Florida State Parks Wild” graphics that have made the rounds on social media. Musicians have written protest songs.

DeSantis held a lengthy, unrelated news conference in Winter Haven, where he and law enforcement officials touted Florida’s tough drug, policing and immigration policies. No new policies were announced.

Asked later by reporters about the state park proposals, DeSantis distanced himself from those plans.

“I didn’t approve of that, I’ve never seen that,” he said. DeSantis said the plans were leaked “to a very left-wing group” when they were still “half-baked.”

The Environmental Protection Ministry posted the plans on its website and social media, and officials were scheduled to hold public meetings about them this week before those were canceled.

“We’re not going to take away any green space,” DeSantis said. “If we don’t do anything, I’m fine with that.”

The governor added that nothing more will be done for the rest of the year, saying officials will “go back and listen to the people.”

His comments reversed the position his administration took last week when the backlash began, and the environmental agency posted justifications for the plans on social media. On Thursday, DeSantis spokesman Jeremy Redfern quoted Teddy Roosevelt in a statement defending the initiative, saying, “It’s long past time that we make public lands more accessible to the public.”

U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a Democrat from South Florida, posted on the social media site X, formerly Twitter, that further investigation was needed into the abandoned proposals.

“Together, we stopped DeSantis from razing and paving over our national parks. Now he acts like he has no idea what he’s doing,” she wrote. “We need DeSantis to release all documents on this greedy land grab, and an inspector general investigation to determine who really supported this operation.”

DeSantis confirmed Wednesday the involvement of a national veterans organization called Folds of Honor, which holds golf tournaments to raise money for scholarships for families of fallen or disabled service members or first responders. Folds of Honor had already proposed to local and state officials about building a golf course at Jonathan Dickinson State Park a year ago, but officials advised them against it.

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DeSantis said the group had proposed turning an abandoned military base in Martin County State Park into a golf course and that the proceeds would help fund the association’s scholarships. But because of the controversy, the group withdrew its proposal and may now renovate a former state golf course instead, he said.

DeSantis met with the group’s leader, Lt. Col. Dan Rooney, on April 10, his schedule shows. They discussed the charity’s plans in Florida for a course honoring the Tuskegee Airmen, he said.

“That’s not going to happen at the Camp Murphy site in Jonathan Dickinson,” DeSantis said, adding that “the state is not going to give any money” to the golf course.

At the news conference, a Tampa Bay Times reporter asked the governor about his June vote in favor of a land swap that would give 324 acres of Withlacoochee State Forest land to a golf course company called Cabot Citrus OpCo LLC. That deal was separate from the Department of Environmental Protection initiative. It was added to the Florida Cabinet agenda at the last minute through a mechanism typically used for natural disasters or other extenuating circumstances.

DeSantis said the swap would bolster the state’s conservation efforts. If the deal gets final approval from a Department of Environmental Conservation board, the state would get 861 acres of forest land in rural Levy County in exchange for the Hernando Forest acreage.

“We were getting better conservation lands…and we gave them less desirable lands,” DeSantis said.

Not everyone agrees.

Eric Draper, who served as Florida’s state parks director from 2017 to 2021, including under DeSantis, said the swap was unusual and had not been carefully evaluated.

The land the state is giving away is part of a contiguous wildlife corridor, Draper said. In contrast, the land the company is offering in exchange is isolated from other conservation lands, is not on the state’s desired land list and is not part of a wildlife corridor.

As for the initiative that was dropped Wednesday, it would be unusual for DeSantis to make such a proposal without being briefed on it. DeSantis is well known for having tight control over state agencies under his executive authority, so much so that his office has been required to review public records requests received by the agencies before they are released to reporters.

Sarasota Republican Sen. Joe Gruters, who has publicly opposed the plans, said the governor deserves to hear from the public. Gruters has gathered a lot of information from his constituents through “many, many calls and emails.”

“I think they misjudged the public’s opinion on this,” he said. “The governor is ultimately responsible for everything his agencies do, and he’s a very hands-on governor.”