On Tuesday, the Florida Senate Appropriations Committee backed down from their proposal-in-committee to fold the Office of Greenways and Trails into Florida State Parks.  After the committee wrapped their recommendations for the day, I received an email from my friend Kent Wimmer that confirmed that OGT was not under discussion for loss of budget.  Thanks [...]

The Florida Legislature is at it again. Last year the cuts to the Department of Environmental Protection threatened the continued existence of certain Florida State Parks; now it’s a frontal assault on a full department of the government, the Office of Greenways & Trails.
This is terribly ironic at a time when Florida was named the [...]

On December 8, the Florida Legislature approved and  Governor Crist  signed a resolution naming 2010 as the “Year of Florida State Parks.”  What a contrast from a year ago when we were fighting to keep them open.  In signing the resolution, the Governor stated:
“Florida State Parks not only preserve our state’s beautiful natural environment, but [...]

Despite the Governor’s wishes, our legislature is pushing to cut the DEP budget so severely that the Office of Greenways & Trails may shut down entirely. This is NOT good news for the state just named the top Trails state in the United States by American Trails this fall.  Here’s an op-ed by Elaine McLaughlin, [...]

58 state parks at risk now! This one’s coming from the legislature, not unexpectedly. Although the Governor’s budget calls for increased fees to help offset shortfalls in the DEP budget, the legislature is discussing a plan submitted by DEP to cut costs by closing 58 state parks mid-week for the fiscal year. The criteria? Parks [...]