Florida's prized state parks are shielded from golf courses and hotels as DeSantis bows to backlash

Key Points

• Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law a ban on constructing golf courses, ball fields and sports facilities in Florida’s state parks and mandated 30 days’ notice before public hearings on any conservation-area changes, effective July 1.
• The measure responds to widespread bipartisan protests against the administration’s plans to build golf courses, pickleball courts and hotels on conservation lands under slogans like “Save Don’t Pave.”
• Unanimously approved by the Republican-controlled legislature, the law represents a rare rebuke of DeSantis by GOP lawmakers and highlights an erosion of his once rock-solid support.
• Environmental groups hailed the new law as a monumental victory for grassroots activism, strengthening protections against powerful development interests.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — The millions of tourists and Florida residents who visit state parks each year will see them remain free of golf courses, new hotels and sports facilities, as Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a law curtailing his administration’s plans to allow more kinds of development on conservation lands.

The law is a direct response to a bipartisan wave of protests last summer when the plans became public, although DeSantis has since distanced himself from the proposal and said he never even saw it. The governor signed the law protecting state parks on Thursday and it goes into effect July 1.

Eve Samples, executive director of Friends of the Everglades, declared it a “huge win” over powerful development interests.

“People really want to build golf courses on some of our more protected lands in the state," she said.

The law's new guidelines will balance preserving natural resources with ensuring public access for things like boating, camping and swimming, according to the measure's sponsors. It also gives Floridians at least 30 days’ notice ahead of public hearings to discuss proposed changes to the conservation areas.

The governor’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday. DeSantis signed the law days after another wave of bipartisan backlash scuttled a company’s plans to swap some of its properties for state-owned conservation lands.

Unlike thorny issues such as abortion, immigration, LGBTQ+ rights, race and guns, state parks apparently hold a place in Floridians' hearts regardless of party.

The law was unanimously approved by both chambers of Florida’s Republican-controlled state legislature. Organizers for the environmental group Sierra Club Florida called it a monumental victory for grassroots activism in a politically divided state.

Last year, hundreds of nature lovers and conservationists thronged to protests at parks across the state, carrying signs with slogans like “Save Don’t Pave” and “Parks Over Profit.”

The push to rein in DeSantis’ administration is a sign of how the governor's once rock-solid support from fellow Republicans has eroded. Until recently, it was rare for DeSantis to get pushback on anything from the GOP lawmakers who dominate the state’s politics, and he has a reputation for seeking vengeance when they do.

But it appears a political line in the sand has been drawn around Florida’s beloved state parks, which are a bastion of wildness in a state where vast stretches of beaches and mangrove forests have long given way to high-rise condos, roadside motels and strip mall souvenir shops.

Republican state Sen. Gayle Harrell, one of the measure’s sponsors, said the safeguards ensure there's “no wiggle room” for unwanted development.

Harrell’s South Florida district includes Jonathan Dickinson State Park, where DeSantis’ Department of Environmental Protection had proposed building a golf complex. That would have entailed removing a boardwalk and observation tower while relocating existing cabins for visitors as well as the offices and residences for park staff.

Harrell said backlash on the issue pushed it to the forefront of the legislative agenda.

“It took the entire state of Florida to do that,” she said. “This is democracy at work.”

The Republican governor distanced himself from the development proposal following the uproar, saying he never approved the plans to allow resorts and sports facilities on state park land.

The DeSantis-appointed environment secretary at the time, Shawn Hamilton, eventually stepped down after facing intense scrutiny and bipartisan pushback on the initiative. In November, DeSantis tapped a new head of the agency, Alexis Lambert.

___ Associated Press writer Curt Anderson in Tampa contributed to this report. Kate Payne is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.