{"id":185761,"date":"2026-03-10T15:22:10","date_gmt":"2026-03-10T15:22:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/185761\/"},"modified":"2026-03-10T15:22:10","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T15:22:10","slug":"statewide-coalition-to-legislature-fund-floridas-state-parks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/185761\/","title":{"rendered":"Statewide Coalition to Legislature: “Fund Florida\u2019s State Parks”"},"content":{"rendered":"

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. \u2013 Today, 32 organizations and businesses sent a letter<\/a> to the Legislature calling for funding for Florida’s state parks.<\/p>\n

Last December, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection released a sobering report showing that Florida\u2019s state parks face a staggering $759 million backlog in needed repairs and upgrades to maintain safe, accessible, and enjoyable outdoor spaces for all Floridians. The report also outlines the substantial long-term investment required over the next decade to sustain and strengthen all 175 state parks across the state.<\/p>\n

This report was a product of the passage of the 2025 State Park Preservation Act, when Floridians across the political spectrum sent a resounding call to the Legislature to ensure our state parks remain pristine, resilient, and welcoming for generations to come.<\/p>\n

The letter<\/a>:<\/p>\n

March 9, 2026<\/p>\n

The Honorable Ben Albritton, President, Florida Senate
The Honorable Daniel Perez, Speaker, Florida House of Representatives
Members of the Florida Legislature<\/p>\n

Re: Invest in Florida\u2019s State Parks<\/p>\n

Dear President Albritton, Speaker Perez, and Members of the Legislature,<\/p>\n

The 32 undersigned conservation organizations and coalitions, community groups, outdoor recreation advocates, and businesses, respectfully urge the Legislature to provide dedicated appropriations to address the growing maintenance backlog in Florida\u2019s award-winning state park system.<\/p>\n

Florida\u2019s beloved state parks are critical infrastructure supporting the state\u2019s tourism economy, drinking water, storm protection, wildlife, and public health, and yet the current budget proposals fail to adequately meet the urgent repair needs within our state parks. Florida\u2019s state parks for years ranked among the best in the nation and are essential economic engines for surrounding communities. But the system now faces a substantial maintenance backlog. Deferred maintenance does not save money \u2014 it multiplies costs. Repairs become replacements, facilities close, visitor experiences decline, and local tourism economies suffer.<\/p>\n

At the current $25 million proposed in the House and Senate budgets, it would take 30 years to accomplish the total amount of repairs recommended in the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) report ($759 million) that was released last year; at $50 million in the Governor\u2019s budget, it would take 15 years to accomplish that total amount of repairs. Our state parks deserve better.<\/p>\n

There is money at hand to spend on state park facility and accessibility improvements. The statutorily uncommitted funds in the Land Acquisition Trust Fund (LATF) are projected to be $824.7 million for the coming fiscal year (2026-27); in fact, the uncommitted funding is going up by $30 million compared to the previous fiscal year. As such, budgeting at least $100 million for state parks facility improvements, and $20 million specifically for accessibility upgrades to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), is entirely feasible.<\/p>\n

We stand ready to work with legislative leaders to ensure Florida remains a place where economic prosperity and natural resource protection advance together. A responsible budget must protect both taxpayers and the state parks of which Floridians and visitors alike are so enamored.<\/p>\n

Floridians love their state parks \u2013 please love them too by appropriating the funds needed to bring our state parks back up to the standards that brought Florida acclaim.<\/p>\n

Respectfully,<\/p>\n

Citrus Chapter of the Florida Native Plant Society
Joy Semelka, President<\/p>\n

Climate Reality Project, North Broward and Palm Beach County
Susan Steinhauser, Co-chair<\/p>\n

Conservancy of Southwest Florida
Nicole Johnson, Director of Environmental Policy<\/p>\n

Earth Ethics, Inc.
Mary Gutierrez, Environmental Scientist<\/p>\n

Environmental Matters Contracting and Consulting, LLC.
Pauline Irene Stacey, President\/CEO<\/p>\n

Florida Center for Fiscal and Economic Policy
Karen Woodall, Executive Director<\/p>\n

Florida Keys Chapter of the Izaak Walton League of America
Michael F. Chenoweth, President<\/p>\n

Florida Native Plant Society
Gene Kelly, President<\/p>\n

Friends of Biscayne Bay
Valeria Donets, Executive Coordinator<\/p>\n

Friends of Oleta River State Park
Nina Jackson, Vice President<\/p>\n

Friends of Wakulla Springs State Park
Julie Harrington, President<\/p>\n

Halifax River Audubon
Melissa Lammers, Co-conservation Chair<\/p>\n

Hold The Line Coalition
Josh Sproat, Policy Director<\/p>\n

IDEAS For Us
Caroline Chomanics, Chief Operations Officer<\/p>\n

Kissimmee Waterkeeper
John Capece, Kissimmee Waterkeeper<\/p>\n

League of Women Voters of Citrus County
Vicky Iozzia, 1st President<\/p>\n

Our Santa Fe River, Inc.
Rick Lanese, President<\/p>\n

Palm Beach County Chapter of the Florida Native Plant Society
Rebekah Kaufman, President<\/p>\n

Pawpaw Chapter Inc., Florida Native Plant Society
Karen Walter, President<\/p>\n

RURL Residents United for Rural Levy
Laura Catlow, Executive Director<\/p>\n

Sarracenia Chapter, Florida Native Plant Society
Jack Richardson, President<\/p>\n

Sea Turtle Conservancy
Stacey Gallagher, Policy Coordinator<\/p>\n

Sierra Club Florida
Susannah Randolph, Chapter Director<\/p>\n

South Florida Audubon Society
Doug Young, Chief Operating Officer<\/p>\n

Southeast Volusia Audubon Society
Marsha Cox, Executive Committee<\/p>\n

Surfrider Foundation Florida
Katie Bauman, Florida Policy Manager<\/p>\n

The Downriver Project
Gil Damon, Director<\/p>\n

Tropical Audubon Society
Lauren Jonaitis, Executive Director<\/p>\n

VoteWater
Gil Smart, Executive Director<\/p>\n

Wakulla Springs Alliance
Chad Hanson, Chair<\/p>\n

West Volusia Audubon Society
Stephen Kintner, Vice President and Conservation Chair<\/p>\n

WWALS Watershed Coalition, Inc.
John S. Quarterman, Suwannee Riverkeeper<\/p>\n

###<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TALLAHASSEE, Fla. \u2013 Today, 32 organizations and businesses sent a letter to the Legislature calling for funding for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":185762,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[232,234,233],"class_list":["post-185761","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tallahassee","tag-tallahassee","tag-tallahassee-headlines","tag-tallahassee-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/185761","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=185761"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/185761\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/185762"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=185761"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=185761"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=185761"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}