Golf Courses and Hotels in Florida State Parks

Saw this today, mining project disguised as a water resource project?

Proposal to mine in the Everglades withdrawn for now

 

So the taxpayers are paying billions to build water storage areas that someone is willing to build for free in exchange for the limerock and this is bad why? The market needs the resource, it eliminates sugar cane farming there, and provides millions of acre feet of storage area for free in lieu of taxpayers funding additional WSA's to prevent lake O discharges to the coasts. Tell me why that's a bad thing.

 

I am just guessing here that mining the limestone would hurt the aquifer that it was withdrawn so quickly shows there was something wrong going on.

 

so in 30 seconds with no public notice the legislature pushed through an exchange of land to give a golf course development 324 acres of state forest in exchange for 861 acres of isolated planted pines.

Florida forestry official questioned DeSantis-backed swap of state forest to golf company (tampabay.com)

Bordering this wedge-shaped stretch of state forest in Hernando County is Cabot Citrus Farms, a luxury golf resort that’s making upgrades. The company hopes to draw people from around the world to tee off on its courses and fill multi-million dollar homes.

And it wants to expand. Following a request from the company, the Florida Cabinet — which includes Gov. Ron DeSantis — quietly approved giving Cabot Citrus 324 adjacent acres of state forest, some of it harboring threatened species. The Cabinet’s June 12 discussion, which lasted less than 30 seconds, did not mention golf courses nor the state forest where more could be built. There was no debate, no public comment. No mention of endangered wildlife.

In return, Cabot would buy 861 acres of timber land about 50 miles northwest in Cedar Key to give to the state — land that largely consists of rows of planted pines with limited biodiversity.

When asked about the deal, DeSantis has said that the state was getting “better conservation land” in exchange for “less-desirable land.”

 

mining wouldn't hurt the aquifer. it is public perception that mining is bad with no context to the alternative (sugar cane farming) or the plus side of building the WSA by building a berm around it to help it contain water flow from Lake O. The alternative to mining the limerock is importing materials from further away which drives up the price of the roads and development, ie housing costs