A bill to restrict Florida from building sports facilities and large lodges on state parks is now a law, born from last year's outcry over plans to add golf courses, pickleball courts and more to several parks.

After a bipartisan uproar last year about a proposal dubbed the “Great Outdoors Initiative,” the Florida Senate on Tuesday began moving forward with a bill that would prevent building such things as golf courses, pickleball courts and hotel-style lodges in state parks.

Here are some cool and affordable to set up glamp year-round in Florida where you likely won’t have to sacrifice air conditioning or wifi.

A former state employee who said he leaked information about the plans to build golf courses and hotels in Florida’s state parks has apparently been fired.

The state Department of Environmental Protection has pushed back a series of meetings about a controversial proposal.

Ron DeSantis announced Friday that he will open all state parks Monday as part of phase one of his plan to reopen Florida. “Today, I am announcing that as part of phase one, as of Monday, Florida’s world-renowned state parks system will be opening,” DeSantis said. “Opening the parks back up is consistent with my safe, smart, step-by-step plan to reopen Florida.”The governor said he based his decision to open state parks on a study conducted by the Department of Homeland Security. “When you’re talking about open spaces with appropriate distancing distancing, that is a very low-risk environment,” DeSantis said. “It’s also very high reward for the people of Florida because they can go out, they can get sunlight, they can get fresh air.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Florida parks will open during set daytime hours for the next two months, with campground and overnight accommodations closed completely starting Friday, the Department of Environmental Protection announced Tuesday. The action concerning the parks comes as state officials respond to the rapidly increasing number of coronavirus cases in Florida. After Wednesday, existing reservations will be canceled and refunded, the state agency said in a release. State parks had been operating during daylight hours, but the change announced Tuesday limits sets visitation between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. The state agency also is closing three Office of Resilience and Coastal Protection facilities --- Apalachicola National Estuarine Research Reserve, Guana Tolomato Matanzas National Estuarine Research Reserve and Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve.