Why Florida Residents Are Protesting Against the Development of a New National Park

Spread across a terrain of 387,000 acres, Ocala is the southernmost national forest in continental America. According to Ocala Marion County’s description, its lush trails are dotted with over 600 swamps and springs where animals like black bears, manatees, scrub jays, alligators, and armadillos roam and feed. With easy trails and fewer obstacles, the park has been hailed as a beauty untouched by human intervention. However, in August this year, a member of Congress filed a proposal to convert Ocala into a full-fledged national park. The idea might have been neutral, but it has been received with backlash from the locals who are stepping out on the streets to protest, as per The Street.

National Parks Are No Longer America's 'Best Idea'

A national park, according to Eifel National Park, is a protected patch of land located in a natural environment, whose purpose is to keep the patch intact in its natural state and to allow it to develop without human intervention. In America, the National Park Service (NPS), a bureau of the US Department of the Interior, is the organization that manages the national parks across the country. As of 2025, NPS manages about 433 official sites designated as national parks.

National parks in America have a reputable stature. Pulitzer Prize-winning American novelist and environmentalist Wallace Stegner famously quoted that national parks are “America’s best idea” and they are “absolutely American, absolutely democratic … they reflect us at our best rather than our worst,” per NRPA. From Zion’s towering sandstone canyons to Yosemite’s jagged granite cliffs, from Grand Teton National Park’s popular Rocky Mountains to the bubbling rainbow geysers of Yellowstone, America’s national parks are visited by millions every year, every day perhaps.

According to The Street’s report, Congressman Randy Fine recently proposed to designate Ocala as an official national park. Stating his thought process in the bill, he appealed for Ocala to be converted from a national park site to a full park that will "commemorate our Florida springs and the surrounding areas on a level like the Everglades or Yellowstone, or Yosemite." Some people weren’t too happy with his appeal. One resident, Bobbie Jo Dameron, filed a petition on Change.org, which has since been signed by more than 6,000 people. Dameron and the signers believe that this park will promote “unsustainable tourism” and “commercialization” that would spoil the pristine ecosystem of Ocala. Another problem is trash.

Piling Up Trash

The more visitors there are in the park, the more there will be trash. With the piling up of trash, not just the infrastructure will dwindle, but also the soil erosion will be hampered. "While we value public access to natural spaces, this bill threatens the long-term health of one of Florida’s most ecologically sensitive regions," the petition reads.

"The Ocala National Forest is already federally protected and funded through the U.S. Forest Service, conservation grants, and strategic partnership agreements.  Additional legislation promoting tourism is not only unnecessary but also dangerous to the fragile ecosystems, endangered species, and quiet rural communities that call this area home," continues the petition.

Low Budget and Impact on the Economy

The protests aren’t just limited to the protection of Ocala. According to ABC News, there aren’t just sufficient resources in the country to manage its ever-growing chain of national parks, let alone design a new one in Ocala. In the 2026 budget, Trump’s administration pulled around $1.2 billion from the funds previously assigned to the NPS. Such a breakneck cut-off in the funds implied that the parks would significantly lose the services and facilities they needed to provide to their visitors.

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