Dear Gov. DeSantis,
Congratulations! You’ve achieved something rare in our deeply divided country. You’ve once again united a lot of people from disparate backgrounds and beliefs.
Of course, you’ve united them against you and one of your agencies — but that’s a price you’re apparently willing to pay, over and over, and I salute you for it.
Last year, you brought people together to stop your plan to put golf courses, 300-room hotels, and pickleball courts in state parks.
Then they united to protest your proposal to swap some state forest land with a golf course developer.
Because of the public outcry, the golf course developer withdrew its request for the state forest land. Meanwhile, the Legislature unanimously passed a bill to prevent you or any other governor from ever again trying to ruin state parks with golf courses, a bill you’ve promised to sign into law.
With these two crises mostly resolved, this would be the point at which public enthusiasm for protecting our state lands would begin to wane. People would stop protesting and go back to more mundane pursuits, such as binging episodes of “Poker Face.” (I hear there’s one set in Florida!)
Fortunately, Gov. D, that didn’t happen — thanks to your new scheme to keep people engaged. Good job!
Last week, word got out that the state was considering a land swap with a mysterious private company that wanted 600 acres of the Guana River Wildlife Management Area. In exchange, the company, identified only as The Uplands LLC, offered to hand over 3,000 acres of less desirable land scattered around St. Johns, Lafayette, Osceola, and Volusia counties.
Eric Draper. when he was Florida State Parks director, via Eric Draper
“It’s just a way to swap jewels for junk,” former Florida State Parks director Eric Draper told me.
Suddenly, boom! People were out protesting again, waving signs that said things like “We’re not Guana take this!” which I thought was a nice shout-out to Twisted Sister.
Your land swap was so unifying, it was roundly condemned by everyone from 1000 Friends of Florida to the White House. Even legislators from your own party began clamoring for answers.
It was a brilliant move, sir, like something you’d see in 3-D chess.
But then Uplands LLC chickened out.
In the face of such widespread public outrage, the company’s attorney announced Monday that his client would withdraw its proposal. The vote on the land swap, scheduled for Wednesday, was canceled.
It’s a shame, really. Everyone sure was spoiling for another big showdown.
It’s also too bad that one of Florida’s best state employees lost her job over your scheme.
For seven years, you’ve made it clear that you’re no fan of Florida’s outstanding Government in the Sunshine Law. But in this case, Mr. D, you apparently used the Sunshine Law the way you’d use your favorite putter to drill one straight into the hole.
Nobody knew about this Guana land swap until it suddenly popped up on the agenda of a somewhat obscure government group last week. That means the owners of that Guana River property, namely the Florida taxpayers, had no more than seven days’ advance notice about what you were up to.
Oh, sir, I applaud the way you played that one! It made people even MORE suspicious that this was some sleazy payback for a campaign contributor.
The legal requirement that this little-known group review the land swap in an open meeting appeared to be the only thing that flushed this secret deal out into the open. The best comment about this happening is one I heard from Albert Gregory, former chief of Florida’s park planning division.
“It’s like Wile E. Coyote is getting the public comment tool out of the Acme box,” he told me, “and it blows up in his face.”
Here’s how it worked out: On May 14, your Florida Department of Environmental Pro — er, what are we calling it now, sir, Providing Cover for Developers? Professing One Thing While Pursuing Another? Proving They Put Politics First?
Anyway, your DEP posted a notice that there would be a meeting of the Acquisition and Restoration Council, or ARC for short, in exactly one week. As I’m sure you recall, that’s a group of 10 people you appointed. Some ARC members are from state agencies, some from scientific institutions such as Tall Timbers Research Station, and some are from private concerns such as ranches and timber operations.
Julie Wraithmell via Audubon Florida
According to Julie Wraithmell, executive director of Audubon Florida, that ARC meeting notice waved a big red flag. ARC doesn’t meet that often, and this meeting was not one of their regularly scheduled ones. Why hold a special session?
The Audubon folks requested DEP send them the agenda, she said, but no one did. Finally, a link to the agenda showed up on the DEP website sometime after 6 p.m. the day the notice was posted, she said. That’s when Audubon learned about the land swap proposal and sounded an alarm for all the state’s environmental groups.
But that’s about all they learned. The agenda item was “really light on details,” Wraithmell told me. “It’s not clear who the applicant is.”
Also unclear: What the applicant intended to do with the state’s property. All the other items on the ARC agenda concerned adding to state lands. This was the only one that would take some away.
Once everyone began studying this bare-bones agenda item, they discovered other fatal flaws. Oh, sir, you were so clever the way you planted all those land mines!
For starters, the report for the ARC said the Guana River property had no historically significant sites. But Wraithmell pointed out that Guana River’s official state management plan names more than seven historic sites covered by the property.
The land is managed by a different state agency, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. The DEP report on the proposed land swap says the FWC concurred with the agency’s recommendation to approve handing over the taxpayers’ property to a private entity.
But that’s not the way the FWC report reads to me. It simply says it “acknowledges the authority” of ARC and the governor and Cabinet to do what they want with the land. That sure sounds like that agency is far from sold on the idea.
Perhaps the biggest land mine of all is what the law says about how the state can’t get rid of any preserve property until it does one thing.
Clay Henderson, provided by subject
For finding this one, I have to credit Clay Henderson, a longtime environmental activist who’s literally written the book on Florida land preservation programs (“Forces of Nature” — you should read it, sir). The law, he pointed out, says the state must first establish that the land is no longer needed for conservation purposes.
Henderson, in a letter to the ARC members, pointed out that Guana River contains everything from coastal strands to maritime hammocks to pine flatwoods to estuarine wetlands. There are rookeries for wood storks and ancient shell middens.
All of that is important to preserve in our fast-growing state.
Henderson remarked that one of the state’s top land managers called the Guana River property one of the “crown jewels of American conservation.” In other words, not one you’d want to give away to somebody.
So Gov. D, if you were looking for one park parcel to dangle over a dangerous chasm to make a point, I think it’s clear you picked the perfect one.
The other big mystery was who wanted the Guana River land so badly.
Good job keeping everyone guessing, governor! The lack of any information made it even more infuriating. It also ensured people would get mad at you and the DEP, not some private entity that might in fact be one of your campaign contributors.
When some nosy Tampa Bay Times reporter asked you point blank to identify your co-conspirator in this effort, you pretended you didn’t understand the question, then dodged any follow-up. You sidestepped as deftly as Charles Durning in “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.” Pretty fancy footwork for a guy who sometimes wears white go-go boots.
The newspaper noted that “the Upland LLC’s business filings with the state don’t list anyone other than a general business services firm as its leader, making the true identity of the entity unclear.” Maybe a better name for the company would have been “Obfuscation Inc.”
There was some speculation that Upland LLC was somehow connected with Gate Petroleum, the company that owns the Ponte Vedra Inn & Club. I contacted Gate and received the quickest “no!” I’ve heard since my long-ago dating days.
Horses riding on trails in Guana River WMA via FWC
A spokeswoman told me the company’s founder and chairman, Herbert Hill Peyton, is the person who first sold the land to the state in 1984. She said he opposes any effort to undo that preservation effort.
The Guana River “is the finest land in Northeast Florida and no portion should be sold, swapped or developed,” Peyton said in a written statement. “This land belongs to the people of Florida and should be preserved forever.” So I guess this Gate is closed.
Herbert Hill Payton via GATE Petroleum Gary Hunter via Holtzman Vogel Law Firm
The only clue we have to the identity of company is the attorney who called off the vote. His name is Gary Hunter, and he’s also a Tallahassee lobbyist whose clients include major developers such as Neal Communities and Alico, not to mention the powerful Association of Florida Community Developers.
Hunter, in his letter, claimed his client had no plans to “develop the acquired land for commercial or community development purposes” and blamed “misinformation” for stirring up all the public anger. He didn’t explain what he meant by “misinformation,” nor did he exclude such development amenities as golf courses.
I tried contacting Hunter to ask about that, but he didn’t respond.
I’m assuming that including Hutner was all part of your plan to keep people conscious of how fragile our state parks, forests, and wildlife management areas are.
Callie DeHaven knew that fact already.
Callie DeHaven worked her way up to become the director of the DEP’s Division of State Lands in 2017. The division has done some wonderful things, such as adding to the size of the award-winning state park system. That’s why lots of people liked her and liked the job she did.
“Callie was one of the few people left at the agency who had scruples,” Gregory told me.
Dana Bryan via IFAS Callie DeHaven via Southeast Regional Partnership for Planning and Sustainability
“I’ve known Callie for many years and she’s one of the good guys,” said Dana Bryan, who spent 30 years in the Florida Park Service, most of it as chief biologist.
On May 6, though, DeHaven submitted a single-page, handwritten letter to her bosses. “To whom it may concern,” it said. “I hereby resign my position.”
The letter doesn’t explain what happened. Draper, who has fond memories of working with DeHaven, told me she’s not the kind of person to fly off the handle at the slightest provocation. She must have been pushed pretty hard to quit so abruptly.
“There is no doubt she objected to the Guana land swap and resigned rather than give in to developers,” Draper said.
So Gov. DeSantis, if you were trying to find which DEP employees would put principles over politics, I guess your plan worked a little TOO well.
You need to find Ms. DeHaven and bring her back into the DEP. Maybe even promote her to a position of even greater authority.
Callie DeHaven Resignation Letter
To show you how well your scheme worked, Gov. D, let me tell you about a woman I met this past weekend in St. Cloud.
Rep. Paula Stark via Florida House
I gave a talk about Florida, and afterward several people came up to me and told me THEIR Florida stories. One of them was state Rep. Paula Stark, who represents the St. Cloud area. She became interested in politics long before she was first elected in 2022. Not her kids, though.
“They are not political at all,” she told me.
What her two adult sons care about is Florida’s environment. They have backyard cameras and love watching wildlife cross from one fenceline to the other, she told me.
But then they found out about the Guana River land swap. Suddenly they were keenly interested in talking to her about politics. They were calling her up and asking, “Mom, why are they doing this?”
And they were ready to do whatever they could to stop it.
The point of this story, Gov. D, is to show you how passionate people are about our wonderful state lands. Even people who don’t care about politics care about saving our dwindling natural resources.
An estimated 50,000 folks signed petitions to oppose the land swap before Uplands gave up. Meanwhile, state Rep. Kim Kendall has vowed to sponsor a bill to make sure this never happens again.
Anyway, congrats on pulling off such an elaborate and clever scheme to make sure Floridians remain vigilant about threats to our state lands.
You better hurry up and find another one, though. Otherwise, they’re liable to start talking about your Hope Florida scandal again.