Florida DEP targeting our state parks for development

Loxahatchee River in Jonathan Dickinson State Park (Joe Capozzi)

Palm Beach County joins fight against ‘shortsighted’ plan for golf courses at Jonathan Dickinson State Park

"Palm Beach County commissioners have joined the loud and growing chorus of opposition to a plan by Gov. Ron DeSantis’ environmental agency (Department of Environmental Protection) to add golf courses at Jonathan Dickinson State Park.

Jonathan Dickinson is one of nine state parks across Florida targeted for major development proposals under the Florida Department of Environmental Protection's so-called Great Outdoors Initiative.

Those proposals include pickleball courts, 350-room lodges and disc golf at other state parks, sparking outcry from environmental groups and residents across Florida.

The JD Park proposal calls for golf courses on 1,000 acres in the 10,500-acre park. The popular Hobe Mountain observation tower would be torn down and the existing park entrance, management offices and staff residences would be moved.

The park is home to endangered scrub habitat and the watershed of the Loxahatchee River, which is one of two federally designated wild and scenic rivers in Florida and flows south into Jupiter."

Read Joe Capozzi's article

Tampa Bay Times leaked this out otherwise we might never have known about it until it was too late to protest or stop it.