/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/ZM73DUGKM4I6TODGIBWI6S7HAY.jpg "A few months ago, Florida allowed a golf course company to take over 324 acres of state forest")
The Florida Department of Environmental Protection's plan to add golf courses, hotels and other amenities to nine state parks sparked a strong, bipartisan uproar across the state last week, forcing a pressure group to withdraw its proposal for Jonathan Dickinson State Park in Martin County.
But in June, months before those plans were unveiled, top Florida officials approved the transfer of 324 acres of state forest land to a Hernando County golf course company, as part of 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 adjacent to the Withlacoochee State Forest parcel in Brooksville. It is the first U.S. resort operated by Cabot, a Canadian luxury golf course developer whose courses range 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 will be able to play amid “unparalleled natural beauty.”
The company has also indicated it is expanding: It will soon buy a sports club and real estate at Cabot Citrus Farms for just under $1.8 million, its website says.
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 without discussion on June 12. The move allows the state to determine that the land is “no longer needed for conservation purposes.”
In exchange, Cabot Citrus agreed to give the state 861 acres of timberland in rural Levy County. The land exchange still has to be approved by a committee within Florida's environmental agency called the Acquisition and Restoration Council. DeSantis has several appointees to that council.
In a video of the cabinet meeting, Florida Department of Environmental Protection chief Shawn Hamilton read a brief statement about the land exchange before the cabinet approved the deal. Hamilton made no mention of Cabot or that the land the state is exchanging is a state forest.
The deal's disclosure comes at a time when the state environmental agency is embroiled in controversy over plans to make major changes to nine state parks in Florida.
A nonprofit called Folds of Honor is helping to create the program, the Tampa Bay Times reported Saturday. The idea of building a golf course at Jonathan Dickinson State Park was pitched to at least two county and state leaders, and had previously met with DeSantis. By Sunday, the group behind Jonathan Dickinson’s latest plans — which list 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 have also approved of the Hernando park project. The land swap deal will take place in June.
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When Simpson was asked why he voted for the deal, his office sent a brief statement saying he voted for the “possibility of a land exchange,” which still requires a vote of the Acquisition and Restoration Council. That same council would have to approve any sweeping proposed changes to the nine Florida State Parks. Simpson has two appointments to that council.
Patronis spokesman Devin Galletta said the land exchange deal is a “conditional approval … that will result in a net gain of protected land.”
This swap was also added to the cabinet agenda at the last minute. Five days before the meeting, aides discussed every land deal except the deal with Cabot Citrus in a pre-meeting conference. According to Barbara Peterson, executive director of the Florida Center for Government Accountability, the land swap with Cabot Citrus was added to the agenda through a process that is normally used only in extraordinary circumstances, such as approving items before a natural disaster.
“Agencies can use it even when they don't want to inform the public in advance about what they're going to do,” Peterson told the Tampa Bay Times.
Several observers said the land swap was unusual.
Eric Draper, who served as Florida state parks director from 2017 to 2021, including under DeSantis, said it was wrong to give up conservation land to expand a golf course. It also did not meet the voter-approved constitutional test that the land is no longer needed for conservation, nor was the public given adequate notice, Draper said.
“The cabinet should not make a habit of replacing valuable land with less valuable land every time a developer comes along,” Draper said. “In this case, approval was rushed through and environmental merit was not carefully assessed. No assessment was presented.”
Draper said the public land being offered to Cabot Citrus is part of a contiguous wildlife corridor and was preserved to offset the environmental impacts of the Suncoast Parkway. The land the company is offering in exchange is separate from other preserved lands, is not on the state's land acquisition wish list and is not part of a wildlife corridor.
“Unfortunately, it is not uncommon for public and commercial interests to look at conservation lands and see ‘vacant’ land that they think might be a good location for another use. This is why Florida has strong protections for its conservation lands, including a requirement that the state demonstrate that the property is ‘no longer needed for conservation’ before it can be surplussed for other uses,” said Julie Wrathmell, executive director of Audubon Florida.
“The June cabinet agenda did not include the details necessary to make this determination and there is no doubt that much more information will need to be provided before the (Acquisition and Restoration Council) will consider any proposal for this parcel,” Wrathmell said.
Reached by phone Monday, a receptionist at Cabot Citrus Farms said the luxury golf resort has two- and four-bedroom cottages and that the company plans to soon build homes along the golf course fairways. Spokespersons for 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 exchange, including voicemails left with its two Tallahassee lobbyists. One of those lobbyists is Sidney Ridley, the daughter of Fred Ridley, the chairman of Augusta National Golf Club, which hosts the annual Masters Tournament.
