Dr. Seuss’s The Lorax is aptly titled after its main character: a mystical, short orange being who is the guardian of a Truffula forest and speaks on behalf of the trees and all the creatures who reside there.[i] The Lorax’s appearances are purposefully timed as he swiftly appears when the first Truffula tree is chopped, and later as the different creatures of the forest find themselves with no other choice but to go elsewhere when the environment becomes unhabitable.
Thousands of Floridians responded in a similar manner on Monday, August 19, 2024, when a leaked memorandum revealed nine proposals aimed toward drastically changing the landscape of nine state parks led by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (“FDEP”).[ii] The parks named in the memorandum were Jonathan Dickinson State Park, Anastasia State Park, Topsail Hill Preserve State Park, Grayton Beach State Park, Camp Helen State Park, Hillsborough River State Park, Honeymoon Island State Park, Dr. Von Mizell – Eula Johnson State Park; and Oleta River State Park.[iii] The changes were targeted toward increasing the number of recreation opportunities at these parks by adding multiple golf courses and pickleball courts, as well as adding a lodge with up to 350 rooms in the maritime hammocks.[iv]
The outcry was rooted in how these plans conflicted with the state law that guides how these parks are to be protected. Ownership of state parks in Florida is governed by the public trust doctrine and various statutes. The public trust doctrine is central to a majority of modern environmental protections in the United States, and it does so by creating a series of public rights and responsibilities that pertain to natural resource commons.[v] These rights require the state to manage the natural resource commons in trust for the people, and the people can seek to have these rights enforced if they feel that the government is failing to uphold its obligations.[vi]
Like many states, Florida has codified the public trust doctrine in its constitution.[vii] What is key in the argument against the FDEP’s changes is within the constitution, which states that the private use of these lands may only be authorized when it is “not contrary to the public interest.”[viii] Statutory language also supports this argument, specifically in Section 282.802, Florida Statutes, which guides the Division of Recreation and Parks.[ix] Specifically, it outlines the division’s policy to “emblemize the state’s natural values [and] conserve these natural values for all time” and maintain these lands in such a way that it enables Floridians and visitors alike “to enjoy these values without depleting them.”[x]
Building on these state parks would inevitably destroy the existing environment and displace the wildlife found there, which many argued went directly against the public policy enshrined in Florida’s laws. When analyzing the purpose of the public trust doctrine and the statutes that echo these beliefs and guide the state agencies entrusted with protecting the environment, this argument holds merit. It also appears likely that it was this merit that led the state to address these concerns promptly.
This was not the first time state officials proposed building on state parks. In 2011, a bill surfaced from discussions between golf course designer Jack Nicklaus and then Governor Rick Scott to create the “Jack Nicklaus Gold Trail of Florida” throughout several state parks. However, Jonathan Dickinson State Park was the only park mentioned by name.[xi] The backlash that followed prompted state officials to withdraw the proposal. The need for additional golf courses—and now pickleball courts—has been questioned as well. After all, the state of Florida has over 1,400 public golf courses and approximately 1,160 pickleball locations, more than any other state in the country.[xii]
Just over a week after the proposed amendments were made public and confirmed by the FDEP, Governor Ron DeSantis addressed press questions on the issue, stating that the plans were “half-baked and not ready for prime time” and would not go into effect this year.[xiii] Though many Floridians considered this a victory, they were justifiably concerned with the implication that this was not a definitive end to whatever plans exist to develop these state parks.
If these changes were to come into effect, it would likely trigger the Endangered Species Act in multiple locations.[xiv] Jonathan Dickinson State Park, particularly, is home to several threatened species, such as the Florida scrub jay—the state’s only endemic bird—and gopher tortoises.[xv] The Great Outdoors Initiative required approximately 1,000 acres of land in Jonathan Dickinson State Park for the three golf courses in its plan, which would result in the seizure of the scrub jays and the relocation of the gopher tortoises.[xvi] The seizure and relocation of these threatened species requires applying for and receiving a permit from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.[xvii] Though there are several steps between applying for these permits and any eventual litigation, nonprofit organizations, such as the Environmental Defense Fund, could be poised to bring suit challenging these permits.[xviii]
One of the most powerful lines in The Lorax appears at the end of the story, perhaps for good reason: “UNLESS someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.”[xix] Fortunately, Floridians wasted no time in showing how much they cared about protecting the very essence of their state. While it may seem that it is only a matter of time before another variant of the Great Outdoors Initiative is introduced, we can expect that Floridians will not go quietly.
[i] See Dr. Seuss, The Lorax (Random House, 1971) (highlighting multiple instances where the Lorax advocates on behalf of the environment and the creatures at risk).
[ii] See Florida State Parks Threatened by Development, Fla. Wildlife Fed’n (Aug. 26, 2024), https://floridawildlifefederation.org/florida-state-parks-threatened-by-development (detailing the nine parks impacted as well as reactions to same).
[iii] See id.
[iv] See id. (listing the Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s proposed changes); see also Press Release, Fla. Dept. of Env’t Protection, DEP Announces 2024–25 Great Outdoors Initiative to Increase Public Access, Recreation and Lodging at Florida State Parks (Aug. 19, 2024), https://floridawildlifefederation.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/DEP-Announces-2024-25-Great-Outdoors-Initiative-to-Increase-Public-Access-Recreation-and-Lodging-at-Florida-State-Parks.pdf (“In addition to increasing the number of campsites, cabins and lodges on park property, the initiative will increase the number of outdoor recreation opportunities available at Florida’s state parks, including pickleball, disc golf, golf and paddling.”).
[v] See Erin Ryan, The Public Trust Doctrine, Private Water Allocation, and Mono Lake: The Historic Saga of National Audubon Society v. Superior Court, 45 Envtl. L. 561, 569 (2015) (“The public is the ultimate beneficiary of the trust, and as in conventional trust relationships, the public can hold the government accountable for failure to manage trust resources in accordance with its responsibility as trustee.”).
[vi] See id. (“[C]itizens can usually seek to enforce their rights in court. In this way, the public trust doctrine acts as a limit on sovereign authority with regard to trust resources, constraining what the government can and cannot do to ensure against private expropriation and monopolization.”).
[vii] See Fla. Const. art. X, § 11 (“The title to lands under navigable waters, within the boundaries of the state, which have not been alienated, including beaches below mean high water lines, is held by the state, by virtue of its sovereignty, in trust for all the people.”).
[viii] Id.
[ix] See Fla. Stat. § 282.802 (2024).
[x] Id.
[xi] See Kimberly Miller, Proposed Plan to Put Golf Courses at Jonathan Dickinson State Park isn’t the First Time, Palm Beach Post (Aug. 23, 2024, 12:04 PM), https://www.palmbeachpost.com/story/news/state/2024/08/23/golf-courses-at-florida-state-parks-there-was-a-jack-nicklaus-plan-in-2011/74916652007.
[xii] See Jim Turner, Florida State Parks Would Transform into Recreational Areas Under This Plan, WUSF (Aug. 23, 2024, 7:08 PM), https://www.wusf.org/environment/2024-08-21/state-parks-would-transform-into-recreational-areas-under-this-plan.
[xiii] Fla. Wildlife Fed’n, DeSantis Addresses Covert State Parks Plan, YouTube (Sept. 3, 2024), https://youtu.be/28r4nVoeUMU?si=Ms0gjDl9ndd9pOeP.
[xiv] See Abigail Hasebroock, Experts: Endangered Species Act Could Stop Florida from Putting Golf Courses in State Park, Sun Sentinel (Aug. 23, 2024, 6:07 PM), https://www.sun-sentinel.com/2024/08/23/experts-endangered-species-act-could-stop-florida-from-putting-golf-courses-in-state-park.
[xv] See id.
[xvi] See id.
[xvii] See id. (“When considering whether or not to grant a permit, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service considers how the proposed change could affect species’ survival and recovery, which includes how likely the plant or animal would be to get taken off the threatened or endangered species list.”).
[xviii] See id.
[xix] Dr. Seuss, supra note i.
