Sierra Club hosts series of protests against Great Outdoors Initiative

Topsail Hill Preserve State Park. Image via Florida State Parks.

Sierra Club protests are continuing across Florida, voicing anger at the Department of Environmental Protection’s (DEP) plans for major construction at eight state parks.

A Keep FL State Parks Wild protest kicked off at 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday at Oleta River State Park in Miami-Dade County. That was scheduled after the state announced plans for a disc golf course at the park as part of the DEP’s Great Outdoors Initiative.

Another protest will take place at Jonathan Dickinson State Park in Martin County at 2 p.m. The Florida chapter of the Sierra Club said it will continue to hold that demonstration even after the Tuskegee Dunes Foundation abandoned plans for multiple golf courses on property and the DEP said it would drop recommendations to build them.

Also at 2 p.m., a protest will take place at Honeymoon Island State Park in Dunedin. In Gov. Ron DeSantis’ hometown, DEP announced plans for pickleball courts by a ferry dock or near a beach access area.

In Tallahassee, protestors will demonstrate on the steps of DEP’s state headquarters. They will protest plans at any of the Emerald Coast state parks, such as plans for up to 350 rooms of lodging at Topsail Hill Preserve State Park in Santa Rosa County.

The Sierra Club noted that the DEP plans to develop at nine state parks was issued as voters across the state were focused on Primaries. The organization also complained that the DEP originally planned to hold meetings on the proposals at eight simultaneous one-hour meetings.

The state has since announced it will delay meetings until the week of Sept. 2, and is collecting public input on locations and times.

No announcements for new meetings have yet been made, and the state is heading into a major holiday weekend, one where many individuals are expected to enjoy the state parks.