The initiative to build golf courses, pickleball courts, disc golf courses, hotels and more in nine Florida’s state parks was not an undeveloped idea. There were publicly shared plans, documents and ...

Jonathan Dickinson State Park is one of the nine parks mentioned in DeSantis’s Great Outdoors Initiative. (Steven B. Calvert/Wikimedia Commons/CC BY-SA 3.0) The Great Outdoors Initiative is the ...

When the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) announced the launch of its 2024-2025 Great Outdoors Initiative last year, the agency described a far-ranging plan to expand public access ...

TALLAHASSEE — Some of Florida’s state parks could be swapping out wildlife habitat for golf courses and pickleball courts, including those in Martin, Broward and Miami-Dade counties. The state ...

The state’s list of potential parks was at one point much longer than the nine sites that have sparked outrage. Paddlers enjoy Silver Springs State Park near Ocala. The park was listed on a Department ...

Pickleball courts, golf and disc golf courses, and more lodging could soon be coming to at least eight Florida state parks. The Florida Department of Environmental Protection on Monday announced the ...

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis tried to distance himself from a controversial proposal to build golf courses and hotels in state parks, saying he didn’t approve the proposals before they were "leaked." "It ...