Editorial | Parks protection bill a ray of light
It’s not often we get a press release from both a state rep and an environmental group applauding the same piece of legislation.
But this week, we received releases from the office of Rep. Peggy Gossett-Seidman and the Sierra Club, each praising the unanimous passage in the House of HB 209 entitled State Land Management.
HB 209, sponsored by Sen. Gayle Harrell and State Representatives John Snyder and Gossett-Seidman, all of Palm Beach County, is intended to protect state parks.
The legislative effort comes in the wake of a statewide outcry last year over the not-so-great “Great Outdoors” plan that was touted as an “initiative to increase public access, recreation and lodging at Florida State Parks” by ensuring that “Florida’s conservation lands can be enjoyed by Floridians today and tomorrow.”
Why the controversy?
No one — not the public, not various environmental groups, not even the elected officials in and around the nine state parks targeted for rollout — bought the bushwa packaged as “conservation.”
For Jonathan Dickinson State Park, which is in the district represented by Sen. Harrell and Rep. Snyder, for example, the “Great Outdoors” plan meant adding two 18-hole and one 9-hole golf courses to a park that currently is mostly preserved as natural habitat. It meant a clubhouse and ancillary structures. It meant removing the Hobe Mountain observation tower, one of the most popular observation sites in the state. It meant hotels, the aforementioned additional “lodging.” It meant a pickleball complex.
It also meant protests with Rep. Gossett-Seidman and Rep. Meg Weinberger saddling up “alongside dozens of concerned Floridians in a horseback protest through the park” with “Protect Our Parks” signs and flags and a pack of mules draped in banners.
This effort, and others like it, led to the “temporary withdrawal” of the Great Outdoors plan last year.
HB-209 is intended to make sure it, or a similar effort, can’t creep back in the future.
“This bill draws a clear line,” said Rep. Gossett-Seidman in her release this week. “Our parks belong to all Floridians — not to developers.”
According to the bill analysis, House-Bill 209, would require that state parks or preserves “be managed in a manner that provides the greatest combination of benefits to the public and the land’s natural resources.” The bill requires that state parks or preserves to be managed for conservation-based recreational uses, provides for public access and related amenities and states that “Such uses must be managed in a manner that is compatible with and that ensures the conservation of the state’s natural resources by minimizing impacts to undisturbed habitat.”
The bill prohibits active recreation facilities and requires public hearings for changes to park plans, according to the bill analysis.
“To ensure the protection of state park resources, native habitats, and archaeological or historical sites, the bill prohibits sporting facilities, including, but not limited to, golf courses, tennis courts, pickleball courts, ball fields, or other similar facilities, from being constructed in state parks.”
The Sierra Club Florida is among the groups that applaud the bill’s passage in the House, calling it a key victory for state park protection.
“We commend Representative Snyder and the Florida House for passing the strongest legislation possible to protect our state parks,” said Susannah Randolph, chapter director, Sierra Club Florida. “On behalf of Sierra Club Florida’s 38,000 members and 150,000 supporters, thank you for listening to the outcry of thousands of Floridians who rallied last summer and again in recent weeks to defend these treasured places. This is a tremendous victory for our environment, and all who call our state home.”
The environmental group also issued a call to action.
“We’re incredibly grateful to Representative Snyder for sponsoring this legislation to protect our state parks, and to every lawmaker who voted in favor of it. Over the past year, Floridians have made it clear: our state parks are worth fighting for. This legislation brings lasting protection to our wild places, but our work isn’t over. We encourage everyone to stay involved and keep the momentum going to protect our parks at SaveFloridaParks.com,” said Kristine Cunningham, executive committee chair.
This year’s legislation is now in its final committee stop in the Senate as SB-80.
We add our voice to those supporting its passage.
Last year we shared a small twist on a master gardener phase often quoted here in Florida: Right plan, right place.
Last year’s Great Outdoors proposal failed on both counts: Wrong plan, wrong place.
This years’s legislation is win-win across the board.
Breeze editorial