Opponents protest a plan to develop Florida state parks last summer. | Daylina Miller, WUSF
Published on May 1, 2025 at 3:56 pm
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A bill intended to keep golf courses, resort-style lodges and sports facilities from being built in state parks is headed to Gov. Ron DeSantis.
The House on Thursday unanimously passed the bill (HB 209) after the Senate made revisions and approved it Wednesday.
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The bill would maintain “conservation-based recreational uses” at state parks while prohibiting types of development that drew outrage last summer in a Department of Environmental Protection proposal known as the “Great Outdoors Initiative.”
Rep. John Snyder and Sen. Gayle Harrell, both Stuart Republicans, filed bills after the public outcry about the proposal, which called for golf courses, resort-style lodges and pickleball courts at 10 state parks.
The plan would have allowed lodges with up to 350 rooms at Anastasia State Park in St. Johns County. It also included pickleball courts and a disc golf course there.
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The proposal was pulled back after the outcry. Changes made Wednesday by the Senate included saying state parks should be managed “in a manner that will provide the greatest combination of benefits to the public and to the land’s natural resources.”
Also, the changes said state parks and preserves are to be used for conservation-based recreational uses, would remove maximum occupancy requirements for cabins in state parks and would allow work on existing structures that might be considered sports facilities.
The bill also would rename St. Marks River Preserve State Park south of Tallahassee after Ney Landrum, a long-time state parks director.
