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"...As I write this, I am looking at a bunch of internal documents from the Florida Department of Environmental Playtime — er, I mean “Protection.” These documents describe proposed changes to nine of our award-winning state parks which, I am told, have been ordered to be implemented by the governor’s office.
The worst one talks of building not one, not two, but THREE golf courses at Jonathan Dickinson State Park in Hobe Sound. There are plans at the other parks for big motels and pickleball courts and disc golf courses, all of which run completely counter to what our state parks are all about.
...
There’s a procedure for making changes to the parks. The first step is to amend the park’s unit management plan. The internal DEP documents I’m looking at are labeled “Unit Management Plan Amendments” for each park. Here’s what it says for Jonathan Dickinson:
“This concept proposes development of an 18-hole golf course and a separate 9-hole golf course between the Brightline intercity rail and U.S. Highway 1 transportation corridors and the development of a second 18-hole golf course in the northeastern portion of the park on the westside of the Brightline rail corridor. The concept includes a supporting clubhouse and ancillary facilities.”
Building these unnatural additions to the park, it says, would require “the relocation and re-development of existing park support facilities including staff residences, a training center, and the DRP District 5 office complex.”
They’d also have to move the Hobe Mountain observation tower, the document says.
The tower allows park visitors to hike to the top of an ancient sand dune that stands 86 feet above sea level. There’s a boardwalk leading up to the tower, which rises an additional 27 feet from the dune.
But suuuure, we could just move that darn tower any old place! ..."