Plans to Add Pickleball Courts, Golf Courses to Florida State Parks on Hold: DeSantis

Recently unveiled plans to add pickleball courts and golf courses to state parks in Florida are on hold after criticism from a number of prominent former and current officials, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said on Aug. 28. “I’d rather not spend any money on this—if people don’t want improvements, then don’t do it,” DeSantis told reporters in an unrelated briefing. He added later: “They’re not doing anything this year. They’re going to go back and basically listen to folks. A lot of that stuff was just half-baked and was not ready for primetime.” The governor, whose office last week defended the plans as making parks “more accessible to the public,” was speaking for the first time about what the Florida Department of Environmental Protection dubbed the Great Outdoors Initiative....