Save Our State Parks

Over the past week, tens of thousands of Floridians have banded together against the so-called Great Outdoors Initiative — an upwelling of support for wild Florida that is both forceful and inspiring. The plan, sneakily introduced by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, proposes harmful developments including golf courses, lodges, and pickleball courts in nine beloved Florida state parks.

The input from Floridians everywhere has been united and unyielding: We do NOT support these changes.

That overwhelming opposition led to the cancellation of statewide meetings originally scheduled for Tuesday, August 27. But we can’t rest easy — we need your help to kill this terrible plan once and for all.

First, let’s clear up some confusion about where things stand. This is what we know:

The nonprofit veterans entity behind the proposed golf courses in Jonathan Dickinson State Park issued a statement on August 25 saying it had withdrawn its proposal. While this may be good news, it remains important for us all to keep the pressure on until we see an official termination of the golf proposal from FDEP.

Meanwhile, eight other beloved state parks remain vulnerable to damaging development — and we will not rest easy until they are protected.

We stand with ALL state parks, which is why we’re joining allies for a press conference and public protest at 2 p.m. Tuesday at Flagler Park in Stuart. This is still an important opportunity to be part of a strong showing of support for killing this plan in EVERY Florida state park. We hope to see you there!

The wave of opposition continues, and the people of Florida are proving to be the greatest resource for beating this.