Ron DeSantis’ controversial plan to have a golf course constructed inside a beloved Florida state park has hit a major snag. One of the developers who bid to win the pricey project, the Tuskegee Dunes Foundation, pulled its proposal over the weekend amid a flurry of bipartisan backlash to DeSantis’ announcement. Even those inside DeSantis’ cabinet, like the Republican Agricultural Commissioner Wilton Simpson, have spoken out against the idea of adding a golf course to Jonathan Dickinson State Park, in the state’s coastal southeast, as well as other commercial additions to other Florida state parks. Thousands flocked to line the streets outside parks over the weekend to protest DeSantis’ plan, which was approved in secret and would also see pickleball courts and large hotels be built within the state’s few remaining natural sanctuaries open to the public. A Tampa Bay Times report revealed on Monday that DeSantis’ plans to build golf courses on state land goes beyond just state parks. He and his administration also brokered a deal for a land swap that will see a state forrest north of Tampa be handed to a Canadian luxury golf course developer.
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