The Florida Department of Environmental Protection has just announced plans to defile up to 9 of our illustrious State Parks with grossly incompatible development, including golf courses in the scrub of Jonathan Dickinson State Park, a 350-room lodge adjacent to the beach and dunes at Top Sail Hill Preserve State Park, and pickleball courts and a disk golf course in the mesic hammock of Hillsborough River State Park. The proposed unit management plan amendments and conceptual maps for each of the parks are available in our action alert at https://buff.ly/4dP9Gqm. It is difficult to comprehend the incompatibility and insensitivity of these proposals, and the process for conducting a public review is similarly outrageous.
The FDEP announcement of these proposals was released on Tuesday the 20th – and the 8 one-hour public meetings to collect public comment will all be conducted concurrently NEXT TUESDAY, AUGUST 27. This is a stealth attack on our public lands. Information on the proposals for each of the 9 affected State Parks (Jonathan Dickinson, Hillsborough River, Honeymoon Island, Anastasia, Topsail Hill Preserve and Grayton Beach, Dr. Von D. Mizell-Eula Johnson, Oleta River and Camp Helen State Parks), and meeting locations and times, are all available using the links provided below. If one of these Parks is especially important to you, or if you live near one of these meeting locations and can plan to be present, PLEASE ATTEND and speak in defense of our entire State Park system. Because if state officials are allowed to get away with this kind of development in these parks, they will not stop there.
**Visit https://buff.ly/4dP9Gqm for the specific times and locations for each of these public meetings, or email info@fnps.org.**
We will continue to oppose these proposals until they have been withdrawn. Stay tuned for a follow-up alert that will launch the next stage of our opposition.
Vice President of Sales, Highland Tank
5moWow! Now, that's some difference! Nice job!