Sierra Club Florida has questions for the new Florida Department of Environmental Protection Secretary on plans for state parks.
Governor Ron DeSantis recently announced the resignation of Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Secretary Shawn Hamilton, and the appointment of Alexis Lambert as his successor.
Sierra Club pointed out that Florida will now have its third DEP head in less than seven years under the Republican DeSantis administration. The environmental group said this change in leadership comes after this summer’s widespread public opposition to Gov. DeSantis’ “disastrous plan to pave over Florida’s state parks with golf courses and hotels, and in the midst of a threat by DeSantis to swap state forest land for low conservation-value timberland to develop a golf course.”
As reported by the Tampa Bay Times and other outlets, the DEP was tasked with posting the plans on its website and social media, and officials were slated to hold public meetings on them before they were ultimately canceled.
According to Sierra Club Florida, this announcement begs critically important questions on the DEP’s plans for development in Florida’s State Parks:
- Has Governor DeSantis put “going back to the drawing board” on the state parks development initiative on Lambert’s plate?
- Does Lambert oppose or support the plan to develop hotels, golf courses, sports courts/fields in the state’s wild places?
“On behalf of the thousands of Floridians who rallied to protect our beloved state parks, Sierra Club Florida respectfully requests answers to these questions,” the group stated.
