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Tag: Florida parks development

  • GoFundMe for Florida whistleblower fired after leaking DeSantis’ state park plans reaches over $200K

    GoFundMe for Florida whistleblower fired after leaking DeSantis’ state park plans reaches over $200K

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    More than $200,000 poured in this week for a former Florida Department of Environmental Protection employee who was fired because he released information about a proposal to add golf courses and resort-style lodges at state parks.

    The GoFundMe page set up by the former employee, James Gaddis, had drawn more than 5,300 contributions by Thursday morning. Many people made anonymous contributions to the single father who worked for the state for 12 years.

    Gaddis worked the past two years as a cartographer, mapping Florida’s mosaic of conservation lands, especially state parks, at an annual salary of $49,346.

    Gaddis wrote on his GoFundMe page he knew “sounding the alarm was a risky move,” but that in making the plans public, “I saw myself as a public servant first and felt that it was the only ethical thing to do.”

    “I was directed to create nine maps depicting shocking and destructive infrastructure proposals, while keeping quiet as they were pushed through an accelerated and under-the-radar public engagement process,” Gaddis wrote.

    Gaddis initially shared documents about the department’s “Great Outdoors Initiative” with the Tampa Bay Times. He told the Times his decision to release the plans stemmed from rushed secrecy of the proposal and potential environmental destruction.

    Gaddis set a goal of $10,000 with the GoFundMe page.

    A Department of Environmental Protection spokeswoman said this week the agency doesn’t comment on personnel matters.

    After the information got out, the parks proposal faced a bipartisan backlash. The state last week backtracked on the initiative, and Gov. Ron DeSantis sought to distance himself from the proposal.

    DeSantis said information was “leaked” to a “left wing group to try to create a narrative” against the proposal, which included golf courses at Jonathan Dickinson State Park in Martin County and lodges of up to 350 rooms at Anastasia State Park in St. Johns County and Topsail Hill Preserve State Park in Walton County.

    DeSantis also said the proposal was “half-baked” and “not ready for prime time,” before saying he was “totally fine to just do nothing and do no improvements, if that’s what the general public wants.”

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    Jim Turner, the News Service of Florida

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  • Group withdraws plans to build golf courses at Florida State Parks, but questions remain

    Group withdraws plans to build golf courses at Florida State Parks, but questions remain

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    Photo via Shutterstock

    Jonathan Dickinson State Park

    There’s not a lot out there about Tuskegee Dunes, but the group has withdrawn controversial plans to build golf courses at Jonathan Dickinson State Park.

    The news arrived over the weekend, hours after Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) cited “overwhelming interest” in announcing plans to reschedule meetings about development at state parks.

    “We did not understand the local community landscape and appreciate the clarity. We will not pursue building in the beloved [park],” Tuskegee Dunes — which claimed that it was going to donate proceeds from the golf courses to “support military and first responders’ families” — told Florida Trident.

    Over the last five days, environmentalists, and really anyone who appreciates wild Florida, has been up in arms after the DeSantis administration announced proposals to develop nine Florida State Parks. As previously reported, pickleball and disc golf courses are proposed for Hillsborough River State Park and Honeymoon Island, while parks north of the Bay area are targeted for more extreme development.

    Proposals for Anastasia State Park in St. Johns County, in part, call for not just pickleball and disc golf, but a 350-room hotel. A “lodge” of the same size is proposed at the panhandle’s Topsail Hill Preserve State Park. Martin County’s Dickinson State Park was targeted for three golf courses.

    But reporter Max Chesnes of the Tampa Bay Times asked state officials if Sunday’s news meant that DEP was abandoning the idea of golf courses altogether or just involvement from Tuskegee Dunes. The state did not respond as of last night, and DEP has also not said if there are any other changes to plans at parks where “lodges,” pickleball and disc golf have been proposed.

    There’s also been no update on the rescheduled meetings originally set for Tuesday, Aug. 27.

    Last Friday, after the state postponed the public meetings, Ryan Smart, Executive Director of the nonprofit Florida Springs Council, told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay he would remain concerned “until all the proposals are dead, buried, and forgotten.”

    The Palm Beach Post noted that the website TuskegeeDunesFoundation.com on Sunday had only a note saying it is “launching soon.” On Monday, the website included a statement about its proposal withdrawal.

    The Palm Beach Post added that Ryan E. Matthews lobbies on behalf of Tuskegee Dunes Foundation, which shares an Oklahoma address with another veterans group, Folds of Honor.

    Last year, Folds of Honor lobbied Florida lawmakers about building a golf course on Dickinson State Park, according to TBT.

    Matthews spent four months in 2017 as interim secretary of DEP under former Gov. Rick Scott, six years after the former governor had to back down from plans to build an RV park at Honeymoon Island.

    Over the weekend, activists lined the streets outside state parks, urging lawmakers to reject proposals to develop. On A1A in North Florida, a line stretched on both sides of the entrance to Anastasia State Park.

    Smart, from the Florida Springs Council, was also at the Anastasia island protest where he was in awe of hundreds of people defying partisanship to protect the state park.

    “Almost every car and truck that passed by was honking in support. I haven’t seen anything like it in more than a decade of environmental advocacy,” he said.

    This story first appeared in our sister publication Creative Loafing Tampa Bay.

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    Ray Roa

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