The Barnacle is on state's hit list for park closings

According to the Audubon of Florida news blog, The Barnacle State Park is on the hit list for park closures this year by the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). It is one of 53 state parks on the list.

It's interesting to note that part of DEP's proposal last year was not accepted by the state legislature. The DEP is targeting parks with very low attendance.

I'm not sure how they know what the attendance is at The Barnacle, but they are right, there is a very low attendance rate during regular days, but when they have events, the place is crawling with people. But we have passed many times and the gates are locked shut, so not sure how they expect people to enjoy the park when it is closed so often.

We send tourists there all the time who come back and tell us it is closed. So sometimes we make our own fate. But that isn't the issue, the issue is that this is an imporant park, as they all are, this is a view of what Florida looked like way before development took over. This is a quiet place in a crazy world. This is a special place and it's a real part of history as well as an open quite place. The City, County and State finds money to build sports stadiums for billionaires and they can't afford to keep a natural habitat open?

Full story here.