This is my post for #freewriters 2496 prompt no more publicity! hosted by @mariannewest
There was an article that was released about the Governor of Florida letting developers build golf courses, huge lodges, and other things in 9 State Parks, public opinion was against it so they backed off it for now. That is what we were told. What we were not told was they had already made a secret deal with developers for land in the Withlacoochee State Forest, the Governor traded 324 acres of State untouched land for 861 acres of timberland, which is land that has been planted with trees for harvest. There was a lot of publicity concerning the other State Parks, I am sure they wanted no more publicity! with this deal.
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.
Cabot is the developer.
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.”
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.
All bold print and photos copied from