Well, maybe not, I'd like to spank the idiots who came up with idea of putting golf courses in Florida State Parks. Read this Orlando Sentinel article, then email the Representative and Senator who proposed this cockamamie idea. The addresses are at the end of the article. Do it even if you don't live in Florida, as you will visit. If you live in Florida, contact your own Rep and Senator.
I did. Feel free to borrow my ideas.
Gentlemen:
Please tell me that the proposal to put golf courses in Florida State Parks is an Internet hoax, perpetrated by someone with no knowledge, appreciation, or experience in “The Real Florida”
“The Real Florida” being the tag line for the Florida State Park system, which I know, having spent countless hours in Parks across the State, is one of the best things about Florida.
Changing these natural treasures to build golf courses, removing trees, draining wetlands, applying pesticides and fertilizers to run off into the Floridian Aquifer, damaging the jewels of Florida, the many springs, borders on idiocy, if not criminal behavior.
I have nothing against golf, or golfers. I used to play, but gave it up. One site, golflink.com states there are 1481 golf course in Florida. Perhaps the State should buy, or partner with a private entity to purchase or run a few of those courses. But, in these hard economic times, why are members of the Legislature even thinking of building golf courses?
Florida is not Alabama, which has to drum up tourism, and so has the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail. As much as I respect Jack Nickulas, the greatest golfer of all time, Florida doesn’t need a “Golf Trail” Maybe Ohio, the Golden Bear’s home state, does. Thousands, tens of thousands of golfers visit Florida every year. Similar numbers come to hike, bike, paddle, camp, picnic, and enjoy nature in our State Parks. There are plenty of opportunities for those visitors, and more importantly, the citizens of Florida to enjoy both, without changing the character of the Real Florida by putting golf course in our Parks.
David D. Cannon
Winter Park
cc Representative Scott Randolph
Cedar Key Sunset
The bill has been withdrawn. Citizen advocacy is a powerful tool.
ReplyDeleteThank goodness! Who comes up with these brilliant ideas? You can barely go five miles without tripping over a golf course...
ReplyDeleteRepublicans.
ReplyDeleteI have nothing against golf courses. They can provide open green space, allowing fresh air and exercise. My residence, Winter Park, FL would not be the same without the golf course in the middle of town. I spent many enjoyable hours golfing with friends in my younger days. Saw my first fox on a golf course. I objected to putting new courses in existing State Parks.
Thanks for the post, dude! Gotta keep those buggers out of parks.
ReplyDelete