Don't let private business ruin Paynes Prairie

Governor Scott wants private business to rent our State Parks for grazing cattle and growing and harvesting trees. Paynes Prairie is now in the sights. The future of Florida’s state parks depends on your apathy or your action. It is your choice. When Paynes Prairie was bought by the state, cattle were removed. State parks have historically been managed for their natural values rather than human uses other than recreation. Fences were removed when the cattle were removed; in other words, it became a state preserve instead of a cattle ranch, and it's been that way for 47 years. Suddenly the DEP secretary has decided he wants cows in state parks, but Governor Scott has a different plan. He has been in discussions with cattle ranch owners regarding setting aside part of the Prairie for grazing cattle. I hope you will agree this is a misuse of our park system. Forbidding certain sectors of publicly-owned land to the general public, while allowing a small subset of the public to use those sectors for individual profit, is not what the State Parks were created for, but it seems to be what the current administration has in mind.

As Shirley Lassiter wrote, "A few years ago, Governor Scott’s previous DEP Secretary told his deputy secretary he wanted to privatize the entire state park system. The deputy advised against it, knowing there would be a huge public outcry. The current game plan to reach that goal: 1. Exploit the natural resources through hunting, cattle grazing and timbering which will require 'private' contractors and further crush morale of the park service staff. 2. Starve the parks by eliminating more staff and funding each year including professional biologists and education staff. DEP has recommended cutting 209 park service positions during the Scott administration. Instead, the Legislature cut 78 positions. 3. In the absence of adequate staff and funding, the parks won’t be able to get their job done. 4. Gov. Scott increases 'Free Days' which reduces revenue while park managers are struggling to increase revenue. 5. The parks’ facilities and resources will deteriorate and the politicians will criticize the poor management. 6. Since the park service will not be able to maintain the resources, DEP is justified to 'privatize the state park system.' Of course government should be run like a business. " Game over.