Landscape Architect Articles

More Logging and Grazing Proposed for Florida State Parks?06-10-15 | News

More Logging and Grazing Proposed for Florida State Parks?

Jon Steverson, secretary of the Florida Dept. of Environmental Protection, is proposing leasing more state park land to grazing and logging, including here at Myakka River State Park, southeast of Sarasota. The companions of the black pigs are American black vultures (Coragyps atratus). Image: Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.

The Tampa Tribune reports a controversy brewing over Jon Steverson's proposal to expand grazing and logging in Florida state parks to help offset the $80 million a year it costs to operate the state's 171 state parks. Steverson is the secretary of the Florida Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP).

The Florida Sierra Club chapter asserts there is already enough grazing pastures in Florida, and is not on board with such commercial and industrial development of its state parks.

Steverson, who has been campaigning for the proposal in the Op-Ed pages of Florida papers, notes that eight state parks currently lease pasture lands, and that state parks have contracted with timber companies many times. Steverson writes: "Timbering offers numerous ecosystem and land management benefits, including increasing plant diversity, cultivating wildlife habitat and improving prescribed burning conditions. As an added benefit, the parks generate revenue from timber sales, which returns to the trust fund that pays for park operations and restoration activities."

Currently, Steverson is proposing a leasing program to allow 315 cattle on 6,500 acres in the southeast corner of the 37,000-acre Myakka River State Park, which is southeast of Sarasota.

The Tampa Tribune reports that Sarasota is a "strong bipartisan environmental community," and is "up in arms already about this."

The Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) manages the state parks and trails. It is DEP's job to review state park land management and to evaluate revenue-producing opportunities for the state parks. DEP is reviewing Steverson proposal, but notes any proposed changes to the state park management will be "thoroughly vetted, including a chance for the public to comment."