Could changes in Florida's park system add golf courses at Jonathan Dickinson State Park?

Florida environmentalists are raising concerns about a push to increase amenities at state parks that they believe includes plans for three golf courses at popular Jonathan Dickinson State Park.

The Florida Department of Environmental Protection announced its “Great Outdoors Initiative” on Monday, Aug. 19, to update state park management plans and increase park amenities such as cabins, lodges, “pickleball, disc golf, golf and paddling.”

While the announcement did not include details on individual parks, a single-sheet plan with maps specifying two 18-hole golf courses and one nine-hole golf course at Jonathan Dickinson State Park was obtained by environmental groups. It is labeled a “unit management plan amendment” and the DEP has scheduled a meeting Tuesday, Aug. 27, at 3 p.m. to present a “proposed amendment to the unit management plan” for the park.

The meeting is scheduled to be held at The Flagler of Stuart venue, 201 SW Flagler Avenue, Stuart.

Are more golf courses needed in Florida? And at the expense of state natural areas?

Julie Brashears Wraithmell, executive director of Audubon Florida, said she has no reason to doubt the veracity of the golf course document, which calls the project the “Greenside Oasis Golf Complex” and includes a plan for a clubhouse.

“I’m not sure who is feeling a desperate lack of golf courses in southeast Florida, but what I can tell you is we are feeling a desperate lack of native scrub habitat,” Wraithmell said. “Putting in a golf course on top of habitat is not what state parks are meant to be.”

DEP did not respond to requests for information on the proposals.

Wraithmell said she’s been told there are eight other parks throughout the state with proposed projects that include, among other things, lodges with up to 350 rooms at Anastasia State Park in St. Johns County and Topsail Hill Preserve State Park in Walton County.

Other state parks possibly being considered for management plan changes include Camp Helen in Bay County, Grayton Beach in Walton County, Hillsborough River in Hillsborough County, Honeymoon Island in Pinellas County, Von Mizell-Eula Johnson in Broward County, and Oleta River in Miami-Dade County.

DEP has meetings scheduled in each of those counties on the same day and time as the one in Stuart.

That bothers Casey Darling Kniffin, conservation policy director of the Florida Wildlife Federation, because she believes people may want to attend more than one meeting.

“They are essentially trying to fast-track the public engagement part of this,” she said. “We are a statewide organization, so ideally I would like to show up at each of these, but they are all at the same time on the same day.”

Largest southeast Florida state park is habitat for threatened Florida scrub-jays

Jonathan Dickinson State Park covers more than 10,500 acres in Martin County, making it the largest state park in southeast Florida, according to its website.

A full-size par 72, 18-hole golf course is typically 120 to 200 acres, according to the America Society of Golf Course Architects.

The park includes multiple habitats such as coastal sand hills, upland lakes, scrub forests and the Loxahatchee River. It has 90 campsites, paved and off-road biking trails and opportunities for boating, fishing, hiking, horseback riding and swimming. It also has the largest amount of protected scrub jay habitat in southeast Florida.

Florida scrub jays are listed as threatened by the Federal Endangered Species Act.

“These wild and beautiful places are the last best examples of native habitats in our urbanizing landscape,” Wraithmell said.

The document outlining the golf course proposal, which environmentalists believe was leaked in an effort to raise public awareness, says there would be an 18-hole course and a nine-hole course between the “Brightline rail corridor and US Highway 1.” A second 18-hole course would also be installed on the west side of the railroad track.

It notes that “the avoidance of sensitive habitat will be priority in the design of the proposed golf courses,” but that the Hobe Mountain observation tower would need to be removed. The relocation of several buildings, including six staff residences and the park office would need to be relocated, according to the document.

Previous plan to add Jack Nicklaus golf course to Florida state park was nixed

In 2011, a legislative proposal to require at least five state parks to have Jack Nicklaus-designed golf courses was dropped after opposition from environmentalists. The only park specified in the failed bill to receive a Nicklaus golf course was Jonathan Dickinson State Park, not far from Nicklaus' North Palm Beach home.

Eric Draper, who was director of the Florida Park Service for four years through 2021, said he at first didn't believe the proposal was real. When he read the technical jargon that was included and saw the maps were on DEP letterhead, he took it more seriously.

Beyond the destruction of habitat, and concerns over the heavy use of water and fertilizer to maintain a golf course on sandy soil near the Indian River Lagoon, he said he believes the correct process has been bypassed. State statute outlines how management plans can be changed. That includes getting input from an advisory group that includes environmental representation and a local elected official.

"This is a process that looks like they are saying we know what we want to do so let's figure out how we can do it and get away with it," Draper said.

Draper also said when the Great Outdoors Initiative was first introduced it was about getting more people to the state parks with discounted passes, "not about putting things in the parks that would destroy existing natural resources."

A Facebook group called Protect Jonathan Dickinson State Park was formed Monday and had 2,500 members as of Tuesday afternoon.

DEP’s Monday announcement said Florida’s 175 state parks brought in nearly 30 million visitors and contributed to an annual economic impact of $3.6 billion in 2022-2023. It also lauded Gov. Ron DeSantis' environmental investments including acquiring more than 260,000 acres of land, the majority of which is in the Florida Wildlife Corridor.

Some Palm Beach County residents said they are frustrated because they can't get more information about Tuesday's hour-long meeting in Stuart where public comments will be limited to three minutes per person. An agenda for the meeting has three items; brief presentation, public comment, adjournment.

“The state is talking about recreation, but that will necessitate machinery coming in to install equipment and the destruction of habitat,” said Jessica Namath, a 35-year resident of Tequesta and environmental advocate. “I love this environment and have seen the loss of it since I was little.”

Wraithmell said it’s unclear how the proposed golf courses and other amenities would work, but the state could lease the land to a private group to operate them.

Any proposal would face review by the state Acquisition and Restoration Council, which is a 10-member group tasked with, in part, examining all management plans for state-owned lands.

“Florida has always balanced nature-based recreation with resource protection,” Wraithmell said. “These proposals threaten to dangerously skew the balance hard toward the recreation side at the expense of resources.”