After wanting to golf in a state park, DeSantis needs to decide on a bill that bans it

Congress gave Floridians a decisive victory on Thursday, who value state parks. The home has passed an amended version of the bill that bans the construction of golf courses, hotels, pickle courts and similar amenities on park land.

The vote to approve the bill on Thursday was unanimous, just like the day before the Senate. Now we’re heading to the desk of the Republican governor who first hatched the park development plan that the administration first sparked mass outrage and that this proposal would not reappear again.

Gov. Ron DeSantis didn’t say whether he would sign it, despite weeks of texting and emailing his office asking about his stance from the Tampa Bay Times. Republican Sen. Gail Harrell, sponsor of the bill, said he was unaware of the governor’s intentions.

More than a year before the scandal broke out, DeSantis’ top staff called out to Lt. Col. Dunlooney, the head of a veteran nonprofit with close ties to famous golfer Jack Nicklaus. Last April, DeSantis personally sat down with him.

During these two meetings, Rooney had been shopping for ideas with several states and local lawmakers to build a Nicklaus-designed golf course in Jonathan Dickinson State Park in Martin County, the largest park in southeastern Florida.

Recognizing how much love the park’s rare and at-risk scrub habitat was to their members, the lawmaker firmly told Rooney that it was a bad idea.

“It won’t happen,” Harrell remembers telling him.

“You’re going to start a war with people,” Martin County Commission Chairman Harold Jenkins told Rooney.

Despite their advice, Rooney brought his ideas to his best office in Florida. After a meeting with Desantis, the plans moved forward.

Obtaining leaked documents and following a vague news release from the state’s environmental regulator, the Tampa Bay Times first reported the administration’s plans to develop nine parks, from Miami to the Panhandle, at hotels, pickleball courts and golf courses.

Later records included development plans that at one point included 17 additional state parks as possible recipients of the lodge and golf course. Pushbacks were immediate and bipartisan, with U.S. Senators and members of Congress joining the city government with their opposition.

When public repulsion reached a fever pitch, the DeSantis administration dug its heels.

“It’s time for the public land to be more commonly available,” said Jeremy Redfern, a spokesman for Desantis.

“Everyone should be able to wait for a long time for Florida’s natural treasures or enjoy them without a cramped campsite,” said another spokesman, Brian Griffin.

The Florida Department of Environmental Protection, the state agency overseeing the parks, defended its development proposal for social media.

The construction of a 350-room hotel in vulnerable dune habitat at Anastasia State Park in St. Augustine’s “providing more overnight accommodation,” the agency wrote in X.

This did not end in defense of the proposal. Golf is “one of our country’s most popular sports,” and the agency said its plans to develop the Rolling Scrub brand in Jonathan Dickinson State Park along with Golf Green.

However, when he shelved the idea, DeSantis insisted that his administration’s proposal “is not approved by me, I have never seen it.”

His signature is now everything necessary to embarrass the bill to the law.

Lawmakers have already settled in other fights with the governor at the end of the controversial legislative meeting, but portrayed the measure as a direct response to the protests of their members rather than DeSantis’ responsibilities.

Republican Rep. John Snyder, one of the House sponsors of the bill, told his fellow lawmakers Thursday. He said he grew up canoeing with his family in Jonathan Dickinson State Park.

Many of them helped organize protests across the state, and celebrated the vote.

“We have made it impossible to ignore our voices. The Florida Legislature has heard us loudly and clearly,” wrote Javier Estevez, political and legislative secretary for Sierra Club Florida, in a statement. “Today we can proudly say: We won!”

This is a broken story. Please check for updates.