53 Florida State Parks are on chopping block!

[FLauthor]

January 30, 2011
State eyes closing First Coast parks to slash budget
Park closures estimated to save Florida $6.5 million.


Seven First Coast parks were included in a list of 53 the Department of Environmental Protection presented to state lawmakers last week as potential closure targets.


ON THE CHOPPING BLOCK

Allen David Broussard Catfish Creek Preserve State Park, Haines City
Atlantic Ridge Preserve State Park, Stuart
Big Shoals State Park, White Springs
Bulow Plantation Ruins Historic State Park, Flagler Beach
Camp Helen State Park, Panama City Beach
Cedar Key State Museum State Park, Cedar Key
Colt Creek State Park, Lakeland
Constitution Convention Museum State Park, Port St. Joe
Crystal River Archaeological State Park, Crystal River
Dade Battlefield Historic State Park, Bushnell
Dagny Johnson Key Largo Hammock Botanical State Park, Key Largo
Deer Lake State Park, Santa Rosa Beach
Devil’s Millhopper Geological State Park, Gainesville
Don Pedro Island State Park, Boca Granda
Dudley Farm Historic State Park, Newberry
Dunn’s Creek State Park, Pomona
Estero Bay Preserve State Park, Estero
Fort Cooper State Park, Inverness
Fort George Island Cultural State Park, Jacksonville
Fort Mose Historic State Park, St. Augustine
John Gorrie Museum State Park, Apalachicola
Judah P. Benjamin Confederate Memorial at Gamble Plantation Historic State Park, Ellentn
Lake Jackson Mounds Archaeological State Park, Tallahassee
Lake June-in-Winter Scrub State Park, Sebring
Lake Talquin State Park, Tallahassee
Letchworth-Love Mounds Archaeological State Park, Tallahassee
Lignumvitae Key Botanical State Park, Islamorada
Madison Blue Spring State Park, Lee
Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Historic State Park, Cross Creek
Natural Bridge Battlefield Historic State Park, Woodville
Olustee Battlefield Historic State Park, Olustee
Orman House Historic State Park, Apalachicola
Paynes Creek Historic State Park, Bowling Green
Peacock Springs State Park, Luraville
Perdido Key State Park, Pensacola
Ponce de Leon Springs State Park, Ponce de Leon
Pumpkin Hill Creek Preserve State Park, Jacksonville
Rock Springs Run State Reserve, Sorrento
San Felasco Hammock Preserve State Park, Alachua
San Marcos de Apalache Historic State Park, St. Marks
Savannas Preserve State Park, Jensen Beach
St. Lucie Inlet Preserve State Park, Stuart
St. Sebastian River Preserve State Park, Fellsmere
Suwannee River Wilderness Trail/Nature and Heritage Tourism Center, White Springs
Terra Ceia Preserve State Park, Palmetto
The Barnacle Historic State Park, Coconut Grove
Troy Spring State Park, Branford
Wacasassa Bay Preserve State Park, Cedar Key
Washington Oaks Gardens State Park, Palm Coast
Werner-Boyce Salt Springs State Park, Port Richey
Windley Key Fossil Reef Geological State Park, Islamorada
Ybor City Museum State Park, Tampa
Yellow River Marsh Preserve State Park, Holt

As of now there is no confirmation whether or not the plan will be set into motion. However, this issue could be heating up as the legislature prepares for session in early March.

One ideas is to only open the 53 listed state parks for the weekends, or even selling the land to put it back on county tax rolls, but park visitors are hoping-somehow these parks will survive the cut.
Perhaps some like Bulow's Plantation, Dade's Battlefield, Fort Cooper, Fort Mose, Olustee Battlefield and Natural Bridge Battlefield would become County Parks and then detectorists could once again have access like we did in the early 1970's. :

 

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[Historyhound]

Same thing happened here in NYS last year.

 

[johnnyblaze]

There is no cure



Blaze....

 

[jeff of pa]

Close ?
to what ?

Trespass or ?

cutting access won't save money.

Cutting Security type Jobs will.

No need for Rangers, Office people, etc.
Sell off their Vehicles. etc.

Would be a real shame if we could treat state parks
like Public places that belong to the people,
and do what we want
in them & not bother to ask huh

 

[johnnyblaze]

Close ?
to what ?

Trespass or ?

cutting access won't save money.

Cutting Security type Jobs will.

No need for Rangers, Office people, etc.
Sell off their Vehicles. etc.

Would be a real shame if we could treat state parks
like Public places that belong to the people,
and do what we want
in them & not bother to ask huh

I hear ya..There is so many rules,you cant even enjoy the public places...
What they are going to do is make them condos or shopping plazas for the tax money/greed..
tax,tax and more taxes...


Blaze..

 

[Sheldon J]

As long as they don't try and sell them to some land developer like one county did here n MI, county needed money, so they sold a prime piece of real estate (county park) on Lake Michigan to a developer with the understanding that he would keep some access open to the public.....
As long as they do not sell it to make the state or local jurisdiction money, at least there is hope for them to reopen one day...

 

[calisdad]

Sounds like the first salvo. If they say they will close them then say they can keep them open if they raise rates people are less inclined to protest. California has the same problem. They will do a survey and see which ones make money and which ones don't and make adjustments from there.

btw- if the park land was donated with the specific intent of a park it probably can't be sold.

 

[ivan salis]

I can see it now --the Olustee battlefeild historic condo development area *--baker county is one of the poorer county's in florida --the main employer is the jail system * -- rather than run the park if given it --most likely its headed for the fiscal chopping block in one form or another -- sold to developers of some sort. --sadly even if turned over to baker county and run by them , I very strongly doubt that we will ever get to detect it again - because once a site gets the "historic site" tag --it might get built over top of by condo's (thus in archies eyes --sealing away the past for "future" archies to find -ya right) but damned if they will let you -- "mr / mrs joe public" detect there.

 

[TheHarleyMan2]

Just like everything else here in the U.S. Some foriegn country will buy it and OWN it and ALSO post "NO TRESPASSING" signs all over the place!

 

[suwanneesuperchick]

so glad little river is not on the list.they closed 5 hole springs and posted a paper saying it was because of grafitti.there is none there but there is a ton of it at the boat ramp down the road and they didnt close it down.i was very dissapointed because i had been camping nearby and my mom wanted to see the sandbar, spring and sinkholes.guess i will just have to show her pictures now.....