Proposed Damage to Florida State Parks’ Ecosystems by Pickleball Courts, Golf Courses, & Hotels

Sign up for daily news updates from CleanTechnica on email. Or follow us on Google News!

While this is strictly a Florida event, it is a good demonstration of how “tone deaf” even seasoned politicians can be. The Governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis, and the incredibly named Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) have decided to commercialize several of Florida’s largest and nicest state parks.

The ideas for the Florida State Parks start small, with proposed pickleball courts, and get bigger, with golf courses, and then quietly end with huge hotels. There has to be a strong money trail. How could the governor not see resistance?

They could. That’s why their tiny room meeting venues were scheduled with short speaking times scheduled to discuss the schemes, the minimum the Florida law would condone.

Well, it hasn’t worked. Citizens of Florida got the word and began complaining long and loudly! An online petition to the offending bureaucrats was quickly organized and got their attention.

The state was “Just Shocked” (that they got caught). But then, citing the “overwhelming interest” (spell that outrage) from the public, the tiny and quiet meetings were postponed until the week of September 2. A DEP spokesperson said last Monday that new dates had not been decided upon. Surprise, surprise!

It is now apparent the state is going to need bigger venues. We love our Florida state parks! Who knew? Certainly not Governor DeSantis. So, we have gone from a small room in a government office to perhaps a baseball stadium?

The “Great Outdoors Initiative” proposed by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ DEP to partially develop 9 state parks has run into emphatic opposition from environmentalists, the public at large, and state lawmakers — as such an ill founded proposal should.

The point being made by the above events is where the rest of you non-Floridians come in. The next time politicians somewhere are dealing with some of the most environmentally pristine areas of the nation and will not consider the environmental ramifications, this will ring a bell. Watch out for any early signs of that. Whether the “money trail” blinds them or they just don’t care about the environment, it’s not acceptable.

Let’s briefly itemize some of the environmental ramifications:

Pickleball Courts

The is most harmless of the projects, and perhaps why it is included. To locate pickleball courts in a state park that is already crowded is silly. Few pickleball players would go through the effort to pay a fee to get there to play pickleball, especially when there are plenty of other places to play pickleball. Also, who knows if the game noise will bother the creatures in the park? Has it been researched?

Golf Courses

Big on the environmental no-no list at any location is a golf course.

The water consumption: AI calculated that an 18-hole golf course in Florida needs about what 1,860 homes need in respect to water.

Here is where a golf course becomes really stupid for an area unmolested by development: Fertilizer.

Estimating damage caused by fertilizers used on golf courses to the surrounding ecosystem must involve considering several factors, including the type of fertilizer, application rates, local environmental conditions, and management practices. However, here is a general overview based on available information:

Chemical Runoff: Fertilizers, especially those high in nitrogen and phosphorus, can lead to significant runoff into nearby water bodies. This phenomenon contributes to eutrophication, where an overabundance of nutrients leads to algae blooms. These blooms can deplete oxygen levels in the water, leading to “dead zones” where aquatic life struggles to survive.

Soil and Water Contamination: Overuse or improper application of fertilizers can lead to soil and groundwater contamination. Nitrates from fertilizers can seep into groundwater, affecting not just the immediate ecosystem but also potentially contaminating water sources used by humans and wildlife.

Biodiversity Impact: The alteration of soil chemistry can affect plant species composition, potentially favoring certain species over others, and thus reducing biodiversity. This change can impact the food chain, affecting insects, birds, and other wildlife that depend on a diverse plant ecosystem.

Air Quality: While directly related to ecosystems, the production and application of fertilizers also contribute to air pollution, which can indirectly affect ecosystems through acid rain or by altering atmospheric conditions in areas inside and outside the park.

Is there any doubt that a golf course in a state park preserve is beyond stupid? Which brings to question the bureaucrats that would propose such unquestioned damage to an untouched natural area.

Hotels (350-bed lodges for “glamping opportunities”)

We have a lot of hotel beds in Florida, because we are a tourist state and happy to be. Why a huge hotel is desirable for a Florida state park may finally reveal the money trail of this sad environmental disaster story.

Most Florida state parks have beachfront property and are in a flood zone. So, any hotel in a park would have to be up on stilts, a visual monstrosity.

A 350-bed hotel would have about 150 toilets, minimum. That’s as many as a good-sized subdivision. Florida state parks do not have the water supply or sewage system to handle such a facility. Constructing such a hotel and the required support would harm the park environment. This is not debatable.

But here is the worst thing about a hotel: People would be there 24/7. Currently, Florida state parks close at sundown and have no people in them except a few Rangers till morning. The creatures of the park have a safe and undisturbed habitat all night to themselves. That would come to a noisy halt with a hotel.

Conclusion

With this sneaky project now out in the open here in Florida, it will likely fail. Associated parties are already running for cover. Perhaps Governor DeSantis and his Department for Environmental Protection (a misnomer if there ever was one) will also see the light. For those of you from afar watching in horror or amusement, beware you too have bureaucrats and money trails.

Thank you for your interest.

By Jim Ringold, Longtime CleanTechnica reader and Tesla owner

Addendum: After the backlash over a golf course in Florida’s Jonathan Dunes State Park, the Tuskegee Dunes Foundation announced it was abandoning its plans for the golf course at Jonathan Dickinson State Park on Florida’s East Coast.

The Tuskegee Dunes Foundation cannot be found to be registered for doing business in Florida in the traditional sense. There is no direct record or confirmation of such registration in typical business databases or state records up to this month. However, it has been involved in activities within Florida. The foundation had registered lobbyists in Tallahassee, which indicates some form of engagement with Florida’s political and legislative processes.

It was found that the Tuskegee Dunes Foundation was registered in Delaware as a “not-for profit” corporation in 2021, but did not file with the IRS for tax-exempt status. This calls into question its operational transparency and legitimacy in the state of Florida.

Featured image: Jonathan Dickinson State Park is one of the nine parks mentioned in DeSantis’s Great Outdoors Initiative. Image by Steven B. Calvert, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Have a tip for CleanTechnica? Want to advertise? Want to suggest a guest for our CleanTech Talk podcast? Contact us here.