The deafening, bipartisan uproar over the Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s plans to add golf courses, hotels and more to nine state parks has rocked the state in the past week, causing one group behind the push to withdraw its proposal for Jonathan Dickinson State Park in Martin County.
But in June, months before those plans were unveiled, Florida’s top officials approved a transfer of 324 acres of state forest land to a Hernando County golf course company in an effort separate from the Florida environmental agency’s current state parks initiative.
The company, Cabot Citrus OpCo LLC, already owns a luxury golf resort with several rolling emerald courses in Brooksville directly adjacent to the Withlacoochee State Forest parcel. It’s the first American resort run by Cabot, a Canadian luxury golf course developer with courses from Bordeaux, France, to the Scottish Highlands to the Caribbean island of St. Lucia. On its website, the company promises players in Brooksville that they’ll be able to tee off among “pristine natural beauty.”
The company has also signaled it’s expanding: Cabot Citrus Farms will soon have a sporting club and real estate for purchase, starting just under $1.8 million, its website states.
Gov. Ron DeSantis, Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson, Attorney General Ashley Moody and Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis, acting as the Florida Cabinet, approved the swap of 324 acres of the Withlacoochee State Forest on June 12 after no discussion. The move granted the state permission to determine that the land is “no longer needed for conservation purposes.”
In return, Cabot Citrus agreed to give the state 861 acres of timberland in rural Levy County. The land swap still must be approved by a committee within Florida’s environmental agency called the Acquisition and Restoration Council. DeSantis has multiple appointees on that council.
Video of the Cabinet meeting shows Florida Department of Environmental Protection head Shawn Hamilton read off a brief statement about the land exchange before the Cabinet approved the deal. Hamilton makes no mention of Cabot or that the land the state is exchanging is state forest.
The revelations about the deal emerge as the state environmental agency finds itself mired in controversy about plans to make major changes to nine Florida state parks.
The Tampa Bay Times reported Saturday that a veterans nonprofit called Folds of Honor had pitched the idea of a golf course on Jonathan Dickinson State Park to at least two county and state leaders, and had also previously met with DeSantis. By Sunday, the group behind the latest Jonathan Dickinson plans — which lists the same address as Folds of Honor — backed away from the proposal.
Two Cabinet members, Simpson and Patronis, have both publicly opposed the new state park initiative. But both also approved the Hernando land swap deal in June.
When asked why Simpson voted for the deal, his office sent a brief statement that noted he voted for “the possibility of a land exchange” that still requires a vote of the Acquisition and Restoration Council. That same council would have to approve any broader proposed changes to the nine Florida state parks. Simpson has two appointees on that council.
Devin Galetta, a spokesperson for Patronis, said the land swap deal was a “conditional approval that … would result in a net gain of protected lands.”
The swap was also added to the Cabinet’s agenda at the last minute. Five days before the meeting, aides at a pre-meeting conference discussed every land deal except the one with Cabot Citrus. The land swap with Cabot Citrus was then added to the agenda through a process normally only used in extenuating circumstances, like approving items before a natural disaster, according to Barbara Petersen, executive director of the Florida Center for Government Accountability.
“Agencies can also use it when they don’t want to give the public advanced notice of what they’re going to do,” Petersen told the Tampa Bay Times.
Several observers said the land swap was unusual.
Eric Draper, who served as the director of Florida’s state parks between 2017 and 2021, including under DeSantis, said giving up conservation land to expand a golf course is wrong. It also does not meet the voter-approved constitutional test of land being no longer needed for conservation, Draper said, nor was the public given adequate notice.
“The Cabinet cannot get in the habit of swapping out valuable land for less-valuable land every time a developer shows up,” Draper said. “In this case, the approval was fast-tracked and the environmental merits were not carefully evaluated. No appraisals were presented.”
The public land that would be given to Cabot Citrus is part of a contiguous wildlife corridor and was conserved to compensate for the environmental impacts of the Suncoast Parkway, Draper said. The land the company is offering in return is isolated from other conservation land, not on the state’s land acquisition wish list and not part of a wildlife corridor.
“Unfortunately, it’s not uncommon for public and business interests to look at conservation lands and see ‘vacant’ land that they think would make a good location for another use. That’s why Florida has strong protections for its conservation lands, with a requirement that the state demonstrate that property is ‘no longer needed for conservation’ before it can be surplussed for other uses,” said Julie Wraithmell, executive director of Audubon Florida.
“The item from the June Cabinet agenda did not include the detail needed to make this determination and no doubt there will need to be a lot more information provided before (the Acquisition and Restoration Council) could even begin to consider any proposal for this parcel,” Wraithmell said.
When reached by phone Monday, a receptionist at Cabot Citrus Farms said the luxury golf resort offers two- and four-bedroom cottages and that the company plans to build homes along golf course fairways soon. Spokespeople for both the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and the governor’s office did not respond to requests for comment Monday.
Cabot Citrus did not respond to requests for comment about the land swap, including voicemails left with its two Tallahassee lobbyists. One of those lobbyists is Sydney Ridley, daughter of Fred Ridley, the chairperson of the Augusta National Golf Club, which hosts the annual Masters Tournament.
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